Hertha BSC continued its winning streak in the 2nd Bundesliga with a mixed performance against Eintracht Braunschweig and made a big leap in the table with its fifth competitive win in a row. The Berliners last managed a series like this in 2001.
Marten Winkler scored the only goal of the evening in the 56th minute after some fine work from Fabian Reese. Braunschweig slipped into a direct relegation zone with its fourth defeat in a row. Eintracht coach Heiner Backhaus, whose sports director Benjamin Kessel publicly supported during the international break, is now under even greater pressure.
“We were equal, if not better, in the first half” said Backhaus in the Sportschau interview after the game. “But we can’t buy anything from that. The ball has to go into the goal.”
Quiet start between Hertha and Braunschweig
In the first twelve minutes there was silence in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Both fan scenes remained silent in protest against the politicians’ planned security measures in German stadiums.
Only in the 8th minute did the action face a major test when Braunschweig’s central defender Patrick Nkoa, completely free at the second post, failed to hit the empty goal. The Berliners, who went into the international break with four competitive game wins in a row and could have appeared with a correspondingly broad chest, remained completely harmless for the time being.
“Populists are axing fan culture” – this was the banner Hertha fans used to protest against stricter security measures in German stadiums.
Weak first half from Hertha
Diego Demme, who replaced the 16-year-old super talent Kennet Eichhorn in the starting line-up, was often familiar with Berlin’s game structure – but apart from one or two long balls into the path of the busy Fabian Reese, he couldn’t think of anything to outplay the dense Braunschweig center. Before the game, he raved about his team’s new self-confidence and the resulting “flow” in the “Sky” interview, but nothing was going to happen on its own against the surprisingly strong Braunschweig team.
It took piecework, impulses developed through struggle. And as so often, Reese delivered: In the 27th minute, he dribbled his way through the Braunschweig defense on the left and found the free-standing Marten Winkler with his cross, who at least scored Berlin’s first shot on goal with his header. As a result, Reese was able to sneak his way into the opponent’s penalty area again and again, but each time there were too many Braunschweig legs in the way for dangerous shots.
On the other hand, central defender Marton Dardai saved at the last second from Sidi Sané, who was ready to take a shot (35′) and Christian Conteh lobbed over Hertha keeper Tjark Ernst after a strong dribble from a tight angle, but just past the second post (45’+1).
Christian Conteh misses from a tight angle
Reese’s cross saves the Berliners
The second half started where the first half ended. The Berliners tried hard, but Braunschweig was disciplined and clever enough to keep them away from their own goal. It was only a flash of inspiration from Reese that brought Hertha’s salvation: the captain used a physical illusion to create a lot of space on his left wing and brought a perfect cross into the penalty area, which Winkler converted to make it 1-0 with Hertha’s second goal of the evening.
This was preceded by a small push, but referee Michael Bacher wasn’t enough to decide on a striker’s foul. “I’ll probably give him a light touch so he loses a bit of momentum”the goalscorer describes the scene on the sports show microphone, “And then I just head it in. Whether it was a foul or not doesn’t really matter to me.”
After conceding a goal, Eintracht lost their previously good organization. Bad passes and positional errors repeatedly invited Hertha to counterattack, and unnecessary fouls created good free-kick opportunities. Braunschweig’s Mehmet Aydin was lucky in the 65th minute not to receive his second yellow card within two minutes after an overly motivated tackle.
After a whistled hand penalty, Braunschweig almost had a great chance to equalize in the final phase (88th), but Bacher took the whistle back according to the VAR images. It was the right decision; Linus Gechter was hit in the elbow, but his arm was close to his chest.
Hertha in Kiel, Braunschweig against Lautern
Hertha jumps to fourth place in the table, at least overnight. Next week the Berliners will be guests at Holstein Kiel on Saturday lunchtime (1 p.m.). At the same time, Braunschweig welcomes 1. FC Kaiserslautern.