In his 61st Bundesliga game for Hoffenheim, the African scores for the first time in over two years. As once in Salzburg, again in November.
Not only in terms of timing, Diadie Samassekou took a long run-up before his first-ever goal for TSG. At the right moment and initiated by a body trick, the Malian had eluded the guard of Leipzig’s Tyler Adams and sprinted determinedly towards goal and the corner kicked by Dennis Geiger. Sure enough, RB keeper Peter Gulacsi misjudged and stretched in vain, Samassekou only had to head the ball into the deserted goal.
Déjà vu from Salzburg days
The disbelieving cheers and stunned colleagues provided a fitting backdrop for the rare event.“Finally, my first goal in two and a half years came, said a delighted Samassekou, who rarely gets to finish as a clearer in front of the defence and so far has not been suspected of being a goal-scorer in disguise. Apparently Samssaekou needs some time to get used to the game. And the November atmosphere. He had also spent two goalless years in his three years at RB Salzburg before scoring his only league goal for Salzburg on 24 November 2018. In that sense, Samassekou was even four days earlier…
I’ve never won against Leipzig here, I hope we always win against them now.
Even then, Munas Dabbur played alongside him. That explains why these two are decidedly fond of scoring against RB in particular. “I’m happy, that was an important win for us. I’ve never won against Leipzig here before, I hope we always win against them now,” the 25-year-old enjoyed, “our plan was clear, we knew they were aggressive and pressed high, but we also knew there were lots of spaces behind them. Our plan worked, we could have scored even more goals. “
Advancing to “interesting places”?
With their 4th home win of the season, the 100th in total in the Bundesliga, TSG are now keeping in touch with the “interesting places” as coach Sebastian Hoeneß put it. But the Kraichgauer now have to improve their performance away from home and against “smaller” opponents “Every game is different. We have already played well against good teams, but lost points against teams we have to beat,” Samassekou also recognises Hoffenheim’s unpredictability, “we have to stay clear in our heads. Next Saturday it starts again, it will be a different game, but we have to get three points. “
Then TSG take on bottom side Fürth. What it looks like with Samassekou. After just over an hour, the Malian had grabbed his thigh at left back and had to be replaced. “I’m fine, I had a little cramp after the long international trip,” Samassekou gave the all-clear.
