Alario scores on his debut in 3-0 win

The double goalscorer was happy after the win:  "We played well over the 90 minutes today. I think we were very smart. We didn't just run around blindly but used our heads. It was fun up front with Lucas. My second goal was clearly down to him." Julian Baumgartlinger spoke of a "united display that came from our mental approach. First of all, we had to work hard today before we were able to show what we could do the ball."

Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich made six changes to the side fielded in Wednesday's 2-1 defeat in Berlin on Wednesday. Lars Bender, who was rested at the end of a busy week and was not part of the squad, Panos Retsos, Dominik Kohr, Karim Bellarabi, Kai Havertz and Julian Brandt were replaced in the starting eleven against HSV by Benny Henrichs, Jonathan Tah, Julian Baumgartlinger, Admir Mehmedi, Leon Bailey and new signing Lucas Alario.

Ahead of the game against the Bundesliga old boys, Herrlich demanded more concentration and sharpness from his players. Both teams started cautiously in late summer temperatures. HSV tried to play with a compact defence to disrupt the Werkself passing game. Bayer 04 almost had a chance on nine minutes. Jonathan Tah beat Mergim Mavraj on the right before whipping in a cross that the Hamburg defence was able to turn the ball away for a corner as Sven Bender was ready to shoot.

The first sign of danger from HSV came on 15 minutes with a long-range effort from Sehad Salihovic but Bernd Leno made a fingertip save.

Double strike from Volland and Alario

Bayer 04 upped the pressure. And the Werkself provided a clinical finish five minutes later. A great cross-field pass from Benny Henrichs was headed back by Bailey to Volland who chested the ball down before firing his shot into the net from 13 yards out with his left foot to make it 1-0 on 20 minutes. HSV keeper Christian Mathenia was helpless. It was the third goal of the season for Volland. And Mathenia had to pick the ball out of his net again three minutes later. And, once more, it was Bailey who provided the assist. The pinpoint cross from the Jamaican was turned into the net by Alario from seven yards out to double the lead at 2-0. A perfect debut for the Argentinian in his first competitive outing for Bayer 04.

Hamburg were hit hard – and they were lucky the Werkself missed the opportunity to make it 3-0 on 36 minutes. The outstanding Bailey again burst into the box and Julian Baumgartlinger cleverly back-heeled the ball to Admir Mehmedi. However, the Swiss striker failed to connect properly as he put the ball over the target from the corner of the six-yard box.

Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol brought on fresh legs at the start of the second half with the introduction of Luca Waldschmidt and Bakery Jatta. The Red Shorts now had more of the game. However, the Werkself gave little away as they continue to tackle and challenge with determination. HSV had few chances the exception of an effort by Lewis Holtby on 59 minutes.

The hosts were now presented with plenty of space and that almost led to the third goal just after the hour mark. Mavraj was able to make a last-ditch tackle to block a shot from Charles Aránguiz after a one-two with Volland. Mathenia was able to claim the ball without any pressure.

Volland Settles the result

Hamburg were now more aggressive but continue to provide little real threat in front of goal. André Hahn had the best chance but his shot from a tight angle on 70 minutes missed the target.

The Werkself had better chances. Shots from Bailey and Aránguiz following an indirect free-kick in the Hamburg box both rebounded off the HSV wall on 73 minutes. Then Bayer 04 settled the result: Substitute Brandt weaved his way through the central midfield and put the ball through to Alario. The 24-year-old saw the bigger picture as he squared the ball to Volland on the edge of the six-yard box for a tap in to make it 3-0 on 83 minutes.

Alario was substituted shortly after that and the crowd expressed their delight with his performance with massive applause. The win takes Bayer 04 up to tenth place in the table.

The Werkself are next in action on Friday 29 September with an away game at FC Schalke 04. The match kicks off at 20.30 CET.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Leno - Henrichs, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell - Baumgartlinger, Aránguiz (Kohr 84') - Bailey, Mehmedi (Brandt 68') - Volland, Alario (Pohjanpalo 86').

Hamburg SV: Mathenia - Diekmeier, Papadopoulos, Mavraj, Sakai - Walace (Waldschmidt 46'), Jung, Salihovic (Jatta 46') - Hahn (Ito 82'), Wood, Holtby.

Goals: 1-0 Volland (20'), 2-0 Alario (23'), 3-0 Volland (83')

Booked: Wendell, Aránguiz - Walace, Papadopoulos

Referee: Dr. Robert Kampka (Mainz)

Attendance: 27,600