Hertha BSC Berlin beats HSV and remains top notch

Bundesliga relegation
“Outstanding”: Mage Magath saves Hertha – HSV misses promotion

After just four minutes, Hertha celebrated Dedryck Boyata’s opening goal (l.)

© Ronny Hartmann / AFP

Hertha BSC Berlin won the relegation second leg against Hamburger SV 2-0 and remains top notch. Under their coach Felix Magath, the Berliners showed a different face than in the first leg, which they lost 1-0.

Felix Magath briefly hugged his coaching team and then disappeared in the direction of the dressing room, his players happily made their way to the fans who had traveled with them. Hertha BSC remains first-class – Hamburger SV, on the other hand, has missed out on promotion again! The significantly improved Berliners of Mage Magath won the relegation second leg in the Volksparkstadion 2-0 (1-0) on Monday evening and avoided the momentous crash into the 2nd division after the 1-0 loss in the first leg last Thursday.

“What the boys delivered today was outstanding!” Said Berlin’s sports director Fredi Bobic on Sat.1. “Today we really acted as a team and hardly made any mistakes. We worked together, toiled, there was passion in it.” The ex-professional announced that he would drink “a few more beers”, but then there would be “endless work”. Kevin-Prince Boateng added: “Today we put pressure on for more than 90 minutes – that was Hertha as we know them.”

HSV supporters had tears in their eyes

Dedryck Boyata (4th) and Marvin Plattenhardt (63rd) scored for Hertha in front of 55,000 spectators. Berlin’s Lucas Tousart saw yellow-red in added time (90 + 6). Despite the defeat, the Hamburg pros and their coach Tim Walter received a lot of encouragement from their supporters, many of whom had tears in their eyes. “We had a really big chance and didn’t make it, it hurts,” said HSV captain Sebastian Schonlau on Sky.

The thousands of fans caused goosebumps at the start of the game. “Let’s go HSV” was written on a huge banner of the Hamburg supporters, who were hoping for the big promotion party – but were quickly sobered. Boyata rewarded Hertha’s offensive first minutes with a header after a corner by Plattenhardt. The relegation was open again, Magath apparently unmoved on the sidelines in a smart suit.

“I think Hertha has a lot to lose,” Walter said shortly before Sky kicked off. With the veterans Boateng and Stevan Jovetic as well as Santiago Ascacibar in the starting eleven, the Berliners initially acted much better than in the first leg, which HSV deservedly won. Boateng, who did not play on Thursday after an alleged dispute with Magath, repeatedly acted as the leader and guided his team-mates. After half an hour he saw yellow.

HSV played way too error-prone

Walter coached on the sidelines with similar commitment. The HSV coach was visibly dissatisfied after conceding an early goal, and his team was slow to get back into the game. Walter had refrained from making any changes to the starting eleven. “Quiet!” shouted the coach in the 21st minute when another Hamburg attack hastily failed to reach the Berlin penalty area. A co-production by Sonny Kittel and Bakery Jatta landed on the side netting (26′).

In the HSV goal, Daniel Heuer Fernandes had to stretch quite a bit to defuse Tousart’s long-range shot (31′). Shortly before the break, Berlin had fired nine shots on goal – HSV only one. The Hamburg game was far too error-prone.

Hertha goalkeeper Andreas Christensen got a little more work to do at the beginning of the second half when Ludovit Reis (48′) and Moritz Heyer (49′) scored. The Hamburgers now seemed more present and came into their actually very offensive game system more often. With 67 goals, HSV was one of the most accurate teams in the 2nd division, while Hertha only managed 37 goals in 34 Bundesliga match days.

But in the middle of the good HSV phase, Plattenhardt then scored with a directly converted free kick. From the right side, the ball flew over Heuer Fernandes into the far corner of the Hamburg goal. Magath smiled. His team also tried to follow up immediately. Heuer Fernandes saved against Jovetic (73rd). The HSV professionals fought back in the heated final phase, but the Hanseatic League didn’t get too many chances.

tis / Franko Koitzsch, Arne Richter and Jan Mies
DPA

source site-2