Hertha BSC and coach Felix Magath slipped out of their hands at the last second, while Arminia Bielefeld is hoping to stay in the class again.
Defender Joakim Nilsson saved the table penultimate from Bielefeld in the 1-1 (0-0) in the basement duel of the third to last matchday in injury time and the realistic hope of relegation. The East Westphalians are two points behind VfB Stuttgart on the relegation place.
With a four-point lead over VfB and six over Arminia, the Berliners are well on the way to staying up. But that would almost have been fixed on Saturday. After Luca Tousart (55th) made it 1-0, Hertha looked like the sure winner for a long time and was therefore assured. Stuttgart’s 1-1 draw in the parallel game against Wolfsburg destroyed the rescue celebrations, Nilsson’s equalizer a few seconds later also for victory.
Magath had apparently fibbed before the game when he publicly considered switching to doubles; Davie Selke started alone up front. But there was a surprise in attack at Arminia. Burak Ince was in the starting XI for the first time – and that despite the fact that the 18-year-old had missed a great chance to make it 2-2 the previous week after being substituted on in Cologne and was inconsolable.
The hosts, who appeared on the “Sustainability Matchday” in anthracite-colored special jerseys with the inscription “No one conquers the Teutoburg Forest”, gave Hertha the ball and the initiative with surprising willingness. In a very uneventful first half, the Berliners made little of it and only became really dangerous twice.
Selke could have taken the lead twice within a few seconds, but failed both with a header and with a foot at Stefan Ortega (23’/24′). Arminia was completely without a chance to score before the break. In the “expected goals”, the probability of goals from the existing chances, Bielefeld came to a value of 0.02 at the break, Hertha to 0.61.
The East Westphalians almost started the second half with a bang: After a nice solo by Patrick Wimmer, Gonzalo Castro, who had been in the starting XI for the first time since the beginning of March, had Bielefeld’s first chance to score, but the ex-national player shot just over from 17 meters ( 51.).
The goal came at the other end, however, when Tousart was allowed to head in unhindered after a corner kick from Marvin Plattenhardt. Then Magath, who usually sat quietly, got up – albeit seemingly emotionless. After that, nothing burned in the Berlin penalty area for a long time – but Nilsson’s header equalized in added time.
dpa