Half-time break without a break: Reese’s double pack – Hertha turns the game against Magdeburg

End of a mini-crisis: In the 2nd Bundesliga, Hertha BSC was behind against 1. FC Magdeburg on Friday evening (February 16, 2024) and still won 3-2 (2-1). A dream goal was decisive. There were also protests in Berlin against the DFL’s investor plans – with strange consequences.

Magdeburg’s Baris Atik took the lead in the 22nd minute before Hertha’s Fabian Reese (33′) and Palko Dardai (39′) gave Berlin a lead at the break. At the start of the second half, Magdeburg’s Tobias Müller equalized (51′). Then Reese had another great performance when he scored the 3:2 (2:1) winning goal (59th).

Hertha’s Dardai hits the post, Magdeburg’s Atik hits the goal

Hertha got off to a better start in the game. First Reese tested Magdeburg’s goalkeeper Dominik Reimann with a left-footed shot from close range (7th), then Dardai hit the left post with an attempt (13th).

When the first goal of the evening came nine minutes later, it wasn’t the Berliners who celebrated. The guests from Magdeburg cheered: Mohammed El Hankouri served Luca Schuler, who fit into Atik’s path. Atik was already in the penalty area when he got the ball. He shot with his left instep and it hit the bottom right corner.

Two Berlin goals in six minutes – and a dismissal for Magdeburg

After almost half an hour, referee Florian Exner pointed to the spot after Magdeburg’s Xavier Amaechi fouled Berlin’s Reese in the penalty area. The person who was fouled stepped up himself. Reese ran and sent goalkeeper Reimann into the wrong corner.

The equalizer was deserved. And the mood at Hertha didn’t get any worse when shortly afterwards Magdeburg’s Jean Hugonet unfairly stopped Berlin’s Jonjoe Kenny with a tackle. Hugonet was the last man, referee Exner decided on the emergency brake and gave a red card (37th).

And less than 120 seconds later, Hertha BSC took the lead when Dardai circled a free kick from a good 20 meters over the wall with his left instep and hit the top right corner.

Titz annoyed by individual mistakes

“We make individual mistakes. The penalty and the sending off were completely unnecessary,” Magdeburg’s coach Christian Titz later told the Sportschau.

Hertha coach Pal Dardai also had words of warning after the game: “We didn’t take advantage of the 120 counterattack opportunities today. But we’re not a ball-possession team, you could see that – even when we had the majority. There was a lot of hecticness in the game.”

Hertha fans protest against the DFL’s plans

The final excitement of the first half was not caused by the players on the pitch, but by those in the stands. It was injury time when Magdeburg’s Atik wanted to take a corner in front of the Hertha block. But it did not get to that. Tennis balls flew from the block onto the field. Spectators in Berlin also protested against the DFL’s investor plans.

Since the tennis ball tosses didn’t end, referee Exner called in the captains of both teams. The players then went to the dressing room – only to return after a break and play the remaining injury time. Atik was still allowed to take the corner, but it didn’t result in a scoring opportunity.

Shortly afterwards there was a break, but it was shorter than usual. It was a half-time break without a break: Because the game had already been interrupted for a long time, both teams just swapped sides after the final whistle and continued playing straight away.

Müller shocks Hertha

At the beginning of the second half, Magdeburg’s Müller equalized when he headed into the top left corner after a corner and the subsequent cross from Daniel Heber.

It didn’t take long for the Berliners to respond. Magdeburg’s goalkeeper Reimann parried a shot from Haris Tabakovic, but the rebound landed at Reese. And he interjected thoughtfully. It was Reese’s sixth goal of the season.

There was another big moment of shock for Hertha in stoppage time. Magdeburg’s Tatsuya Ito hit the crossbar (91′), but the equalizer was never to come.

Hertha will play at Eintracht Braunschweig on matchday 23 on Saturday (02/24/24, 1 p.m.). Magdeburg welcomes FC Schalke 04 in the Saturday evening game at 8:30 p.m.