Robert Glatzel: MD1's Bundesliga 2 Man of the Matchday and Hamburg's key man
Robert Glatzel served up what Hamburg will be hoping is a sign of things to come with his match-winning brace against Eintracht Braunschweig on Matchday 1 of the 2022/23 Bundesliga 2 season.
HSV were indebted to goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes for keeping promoted Braunschweig at bay in the first half, before Glatzel put away two classic poacher's goals in the space of nine second-half minutes.
"We weren't good in the first half, and had Ferro to thank for it being 0-0," admitted Glatzel after the game. "There are a few things we have to do better, but it's positive that we got the points after an improved second half."
Hamburg had to raise their game, but it was business as usual for Glatzel. The 28-year-old scored 27 goals in 47 competitive matches last season as HSV narrowly missed out on promotion after losing the two-legged play-off to Hertha Berlin.
With Schalke and Werder Bremen going up at the first attempt at the end of 2021/22, the Dinos begin a fifth straight season of Bundesliga 2 football firmly among the promotion favourites. In Glatzel, the three-time Bundesliga champions have just the man needed to get the job done.
The Munich native was second only to Schalke's Simon Terodde in last term's scoring charts, and is joint top of the pile one match into the new campaign. What's more, he's scored in four straight league matches, and hasn't gone more than two without finding the back of the net since early December 2021.
Watch: Robert Glatzel scored four of five HSV goals against Darmstadt in February
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"He's a real fox in the box," said Hamburg head coach Tim Walter of Glatzel. "His movement has improved significantly - he's exactly what we want from a striker in the area. The goals are deserved."
Glatzel now has 45 goals in 109 Bundesliga 2 appearances, including 24 in 35 for Hamburg. That's a goal every 1.45 league matches as a HSV player, or one every 123.9 minutes.
At his current hit rate, Glatzel can expect to reach upwards of 22 goals across the new campaign. A second bite of the Bundesliga cherry - he struck twice in 13 top-flight games whilst on loan at Mainz in 2019/20 - would be the ultimate reward.
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