2. Bundesliga: Hertha and Nuremberg draw after a wild exchange of blows

• Nuremberg’s Uzun and Hertha’s Tabakovic put together double packs
• Tabakovic leads the top scorer list in the 2nd Bundesliga with 17 goals this season
• The Berliners remain without a win in Saturday night games this season (four defeats, two draws)
• Due to the draw, both teams miss out on the top third of the table

Hertha BSC drew 3-3 with 1. FC Nürnberg on Saturday evening after a thrilling duel in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. The guests took a 3-1 lead shortly after the break and already seemed like the sure winners – but Hertha’s Haris Tabakovic had something against it and secured his team a point with a double strike (54th, 56th). In the table of the 2nd Bundesliga, both teams are standing on the spot after 27 matches. The Berliners currently climb to 8th place, but the gap to the relegation place is eight points.

After the Hertha fans showed a choreo in the east corner as the teams arrived and the Nuremberg supporters ignited pyrotechnics, the teams got off to a lively start: Ibrahim Maza found Hertha’s top scorer Haris Tabakovic with a cross, but the ball was in the box couldn’t process it properly (2nd minute).

On the other hand, Florian Flick tried with a powerful low shot from distance – but Marius Gersbeck, who was once again in the Berlin goal in place of the injured Tjark Ernst, was there without any effort (3′).

As a result, the guests from Franconia increasingly took control of the game, Hertha let the FCN have its way and waited for moments of change. In the 14th minute, this passivity took revenge: Nuremberg’s 18-year-old shooting star Can Uzun finished from a central position, the ball was deflected unstoppably by Linus Gechter and landed in the net. It was Uzun’s 14th goal of the season.

The Hertha team initially found no answer. It remained the case that Nuremberg had a little more of the game. Things got wild in the 26th minute: Jeremy Dudziak headed Berlin’s best chance to date after a corner from Jonjoe Kenny. “The club” played the subsequent counterattack perfectly and once again exposed Uzun, who tried with the outer instep and failed because of Gersbeck. Afterwards it was the Berliners’ turn again: Hertha’s left-back Michal Karbownik powered through with a solo after a good half hour, moved into the middle, but missed the box quite clearly with his shot (32′).

Just when it seemed like the team of As coach Pal Dardai found their way into the game better, the guests struck a second time: Marton Dardai wanted to defuse an FCN counterattack with a tackle, but in the end the Hertha player unintentionally set up for Lukas Kehler, who suddenly appeared free in front of Gersbeck and only still needed to be inserted (33′).

The Nuremberg team then had good opportunities to make it 3-0 thanks to Uzun (36′) and Nathaniel Brown (42′). But the early preliminary decision didn’t happen – instead the home team reconnected out of nowhere. Fabian Reese crossed from the left wing, Marten Winkler rose up in the center and nodded the ball over the line to make the score 1-2 at halftime (45′).

The second half wasn’t even sixty seconds old when the ball was already in the net again. Uzun danced through the Berlin defense and also overcame Gersbeck – making it 1:3 from the perspective of the “Old Lady” (46th). In the 51st minute, Hertha’s keeper prevented the Nuremberg whirlwind from conceding their fourth goal and thus kept his team in the game. Afterwards, the blue and whites actually came back again: First Tabakovic nodded a Kenny cross into the net (54th), before the clipper sank a penalty in the bottom left corner to equalize – after Kenny had been fouled by Brown (56th). ). 3:3!

After this spectacular start to the second half of the game, things calmed down and it seemed as if both teams were now primarily concerned with not making any more crucial mistakes. Gersbeck was there in stoppage time and parried Joseph Hungbo’s shot (90th + 4). The score remained 3:3.

Florian Niederlechner (Hertha BSC): “If you look at the whole game, a win wouldn’t necessarily have been deserved. In the first half we didn’t feel like we had a chance at all, Nuremberg was clearly better. After the 1:3 in the second half I honestly thought: ‘That could be it have been.’ But in front of the crowd and the fans you can tell that something has grown together here. We came back really well. […] We want to give a lot back to the fans – because what they are doing this season is incredible. But no one needs to talk about promotion anymore.”

Pal Dardai (Hertha BSC): “I didn’t like the first half at all. We can be happy that it was only 1-2. […] We reacted at halftime. We can be proud that we came back with great goals after the 1:3 defeat.”

Jan Gyamerah (1. FC Nuremberg): “We can’t be happy with the result, but we can be happy with our performance. […] It feels like a defeat.”

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, March 30, 2024, 8:30 p.m