In the end, Felix Magath and Mark Fotheringham hugged each other. As at the beginning of the second half, when assistant coach Fotheringham even kissed head coach Magath on the cheek. At the latest during these events, it became apparent that Saturday afternoon could take a special course for Hertha BSC. And even after their 1-0 (0-0) win at FC Augsburg, the Berliners seemed really inspired by their sense of achievement in the relegation battle, just a week after the 4-1 defeat in the derby against Union.
“We won a lot today,” said midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, attesting to “an outstanding game” for himself and his colleagues. Magath even described the first away win since the 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on October 16, 2021 as “vital”. His team won “also because of a great fighting performance”, he praised: “We finally showed what you have to bring in the relegation battle.”
The rare scenes of Berlin bliss, including a kiss for Magath, happened right after Suat Serdar’s hack goal, in which he sent the ball through a double tunnel into Augsburg’s goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz (49′). Thanks to the filigree goal, the Berliners improved to 15th place in the table at least until Sunday. With some justification, they can now even hope for a direct transfer again.
“A bitter and unnecessary defeat,” said Augsburg coach Weinzierl
The Augsburgers missed this for the time being. With a win, their salvation would have been almost certain – but they are still in the draw with four games left. “It’s a bitter and unnecessary defeat. In my eyes it was a 0-0 game,” said coach Markus Weinzierl. Manager Stefan Reuter described the defeat as “very disappointing” and “self-inflicted” because the team “begged” for the goal at the beginning of the second half.
Hertha’s goal scorer Suat Serdar (left) cheers with passer Marco Richter.
(Photo: Stefan Puchner/dpa)
Weinzierl had made every effort before the game not to give the important encounter an additional explosiveness with a striking headline. It was “not a final,” he had emphasized. That also applied to Hertha, but afterwards there was talk of “four more finals” (Boateng). Also because the agenda now has the games against the other direct competitors Stuttgart and Bielefeld ready.
Magath tried to get his staff in the mood for the most important weeks of the season with a team evening. It was well fed, Magath reported, and the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between Atlético Madrid and Manchester City (0-0) was watched on Wednesday. Magath had hoped that his players should learn something from it. “I think you could see today that we’re on the right track. It was finally a team effort,” he said.
Objective lessons in the Champions League – that was at least an original approach for the relegation battle. Like Manchester City, the Berliners didn’t appear playfully – but they apparently took Atlético’s robustness and pugnacity as a model. In this way, they countered the equally enthusiastic duels of FC Augsburg with the defensiveness that Magath would like to see from his team in the coming weeks. The coach also justified the fact that he had removed Ishak Belfodil from the squad at short notice with commitment. The attacker is not there “because he wants to solve things more playfully,” said Magath.
Boateng was allowed to direct as a tenth. “He’s a player who takes on responsibility, has self-confidence and organizes on the field, leads the team-mates. We needed a character like that,” Magath later praised. He had previously described Boateng as the only leading player in the squad. The 35-year-old won 86 percent of his tackles in his first start since October 2 and also managed to bring order to Hertha’s game with his calmness on the ball.
With the winning goal, Serdar casually steers the ball behind the supporting leg into the Augsburg goal
At first, however, the attacking efforts of the guests were manageable. Apart from Peter Pekarik’s dropkick, Hertha didn’t really pose a threat in the first half. The FCA did not achieve much more. Alfred Finnbogason missed the lead when he missed a close-range volley. In addition, Michael Gregoritsch put a free kick just over the goal.
At the beginning of the second half, the Berliners remembered that they had witnessed the fine art of playing at their team evening on Wednesday. They conquered the ball with pressing, and when the former Augsburg Marco Richter passed inside, Serdar completed there, as if he had been secretly watching videos of Rabah Madjer for hours on Thursday night, who played for FC in the final of the European Cup in 1987 Porto hit with the hoe against FC Bayern. Similarly casually, Serdar now steered the ball behind his supporting leg into the Augsburg goal.
Weinzierl’s side ran from behind and came close to equalizing in at least two scenes when Gregoritsch headed on the crossbar and Iago shot over the goal from a free-standing position. Above all, Hertha fought back with so much passion that Atlético’s coach and duel lover Diego Simeone would have applauded it. In any case, Magath smiled contentedly after the final whistle.