From BZ/dpa
Hertha fright Andrej Kramaric keeps the Berliners waiting for their first home win this season. Coach Sandro Schwarz’s team had to settle for a 1-1 (1-1) draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday.
In his 200th Bundesliga game, Kramaric gave Hoffenheim the lead in the 25th minute. Before the break, Dodi Lukabakio (37th) equalized in front of 41,653 spectators.
With a lead of just two points on 16th place, the sporting pressure on Hertha continues to increase.
All the background noise surrounding investor Lars Windhorst and his alleged involvement as a client in a campaign against former Hertha President Werner Gegenbauer played no role on the pitch after the whistle. The hole in the goal net, which caused a slight delay in kick-off, was also patched.
Head coach Sandro Schwarz is making steam from the sidelines Photo: picture alliance/dpa
The Hertha team started enthusiastically. Strong in duels, aggressive, determined – but so does the opponent. The first few minutes were rather wild and intense. And almost with a very early penalty for the guests, in which Herthan’s Suat Serdar, who had returned to the team, would have been involved. However, an offside position prevented things from getting worse for the hosts, who were loudly pushed forward by their fans and created chances. Aka Wilfriede Kanga (8th) and Lukebakio (16th) but warped.
With increasing playing time, the ball rolled better and better through the ranks of Hoffenheim. Kramaric (19th) didn’t aim accurately enough at first. A few minutes later, the ball landed from his foot in the Hertha net. Who else? The former vice world champion from Croatia has not scored more often against any other team. This was his tenth goal against the Berlin club in their 13th meeting.
Chidera Ejuke, pursued here by Hoffenheim’s Grischa Prömel, provided the assist to make it 1-1 Photo: picture alliance / photo booth
Kramaric cleverly deflected a shot from Ozan Kabak from around 16 meters past Hertha keeper Oliver Christensen into the goal. For a short time it was pretty quiet in the Olympic Stadium.
But Hertha came back. Lukebakio equalized with a great shot, it was his third goal of the season. And one that gave the team a boost against Hoffenheim, who had dominated the game with an impressive pass rate of 90 percent.
A heart for the fans: Dodi Lukebakio after his 1-1 Photo: picture alliance / contrastphoto
The second goal almost fell against the hosts. Kramaric was involved again, failing with a shot under the crossbar. Christensen parried the subsequent header from Grischa Prömel, once with Hertha’s city rivals 1. FC Union.
Hertha did not want to be satisfied with the draw after two previous draws and had chances again after the change of sides. Chidera Ejuke (48th), Ivan Sunjic and Lukebakio (both 56th) forgave.
The will was palpable. But Hoffenheim held back and remained dangerous for his part. But a goal didn’t want to fall anymore.