On a spectacular cup evening, Hertha BSC reached the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup for the first time since 2016 and can dream of the final in their own stadium. Coach Pal Dardai’s team won a memorable round of 16 match against Hamburger SV on Wednesday 5-3 on penalties. Goalkeeper Tjark Ernst became the celebrated man of the evening in the duel from the spot when he saved Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer’s shot.
After 120 minutes it was 3:3 (2:2, 1:2) after whirlwind Fabian Reese (21st, 90th) and Jonjoe Kenny (120th) for Hertha and Immanuel Pherai (31st), Laszlo Benes ( 43rd) and Königsdörffer (102nd) scored for HSV. It is already Herthaner’s most successful cup run since the 2015/2016 season, in which the Berliners only failed in the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund.
The first half was already turbulent, Hamburg turned the game around for the first time – but that only turned out to be a prologue. Things got really dramatic when Reese saved Hertha into extra time with his second goal in the last minute of regular time. In the last minute of extra time, it was Kenny whose goal meant the penalty shootout. Reese met there again at the end. And as if that wasn’t enough of a spectacle, Dardai substituted internet celebrity Nader El-Jindaoui in the 80th minute: it was the professional debut of the offensive player, who is followed by millions of people online. He also converted a penalty.