Hertha BSC pulled off another coup at the end of the Bundesliga first round, winning 3-2 against second-placed Borussia Dortmund, not undeservedly after trailing 0:1 at the break. Man of the day was double-pointer Richter.
Hertha coach Tayfun Korkut had to cope with a number of absences in addition to the recent 4-0 defeat in Mainz: In addition to the long-term absentee Jarstein (rehab after knee surgery), Jovetic (calf injury), Klünter (rehabilitation training after shoulder surgery), Serdar (knee sprain) and, at very short notice, Boateng (knee problems) and captain Boyata (Achilles tendon problems) had to miss. Ekkelenkamp, Belfodil and Maolida were therefore allowed to play in the offensive. Defensively, Torunarigha came in.
Dortmund coach Marco Rose, meanwhile, had demanded a clear improvement in performance at the end of the first half of the season after the 3-0 win against bottom side Fürth – even though he was also losing strength. In addition to Akanji (knee surgery) and Moukoko (torn muscle fibre), Bellingham (yellow suspension) and Hummels and regular goalkeeper Kobel, who had caught a cold at short notice, could not be called upon. Instead, Hitz stood between the posts, with Witsel and Pongracic forming the centre of defence.
Hertha miss the lead – Brandt casual
And these two players had a lot of work to do, because after BVB’s pressure-filled initial phase, the Herthans made their own demands. First chances included: Ekkelenkamp tested goalkeeper Hitz (6th), then missed what should have been a safe 1:0 from close range (15th) and had to complain with his colleagues when a goal (15th) after Pekarik’s pass and Maolida’s finish was disallowed after VAR intervention (18th).
Referee Marco Fritz had studied the pictures himself and finally came to the understandable conclusion that Belfodil, who was slightly offside, had blocked Witsel, who could have saved the ball.
Instead, Dortmund went into the catacombs with a 1-0 lead, as Brandt, after an unfortunate pass from Berlin’s Mittelstädt, casually lifted his shot past Schwolow from an acute angle to give the black-yellow team the lead (31st). All in all, the lead was also acceptable, because Borussia were a bit more pressured on the road, partly rearranged the visitors’ penalty area and had more chances. Meunier from an acute angle (9th), Reus free in front of Schwolow (11th) and Reus via a header (13th) missed the target.
Belfodil and double-packer Richter are too much for BVB
After the break, the Westphalians, who also had to replace the limping captain Reus, were far too passive with the lead behind them, which was to take its revenge against a courageous Berlin side: Darida, who was not attacked at all, elegantly chipped the ball into the back of the defence to Belfodil, who was not offside. The Algerian international then caught Witsel, who was too slow, in his stride and scored flat into the bottom left corner (51st) – his first Bundesliga goal since May 2019, when he was still playing for 1899 Hoffenheim.
But that was not enough! Because the Westphalians completely lost the thread in this phase, further setbacks immediately followed. First, after mistakes by Witsel and Brandt, Richter sank the ball into the top left corner for a 2-1 lead (57th), before the attacking player, who arrived from FC Augsburg in the summer, scored a brace to make it 3-1 after another mistake by Brandt and a save by Hitz against Belfodil (69th). In the meantime, Dortmund had at least scored a disallowed 2:2 by joker Hazard (61st) and a missed shot by Dahoud (66th), but all in all it was clearly too little. Haaland also failed to score.
In the end, the 2:3 by substitute Tigges, who had a beautiful header (83.), did not help. The capital’s defence managed to hold on to the narrow lead and celebrated a very important three points in the fight against relegation.
After the short winter break, the next match is against Cologne on Sunday (9 January, 3.30 pm). BVB, who ended the first half of the season with a bitter disappointment and are already nine points behind champions Bayern, are guests in Frankfurt on Saturday (8 January, 6.30 p.m.).
