The Berliners disappoint across the board against their second division rivals and are once again eliminated from the DFB Cup. Several mistakes make things clear.
The dream of a cup triumph at home has once again shattered prematurely for Hertha BSC: The Berliners lost quietly 1:3 (0:2) against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and had to watch how the guests confidently made it into the last four.
Jan Elvedi (5th), Richmond Tachie (38th) and Filip Kaloc (69th) scored for the “Red Devils”, who benefited from several serious mistakes in the Hertha defense. Fabian Reese (90+1) scored the late consolation goal. The hosts were disappointing for long stretches, hardly had any scoring opportunities and ultimately resigned themselves to their fate.
It won’t be until the middle of next week that the two-time cup winners FCK will find out which opponents, in addition to the other second division team Fortuna Düsseldorf, could still be waiting in the first cup semi-final in ten years at the beginning of April. The Palatinate team have already been to the final in Berlin three times – in contrast to Hertha’s professional team, who fail in this endeavor year after year. But another final awaits the Berliners on Saturday. Against Hamburger SV in the 2nd league it is possibly the last realistic chance of being able to play for the Bundesliga return.
That’s how the game went
Of course, the death of President Kay Bernstein could not be ignored by Berliners. The fans continued the memory of the popular club boss, who died suddenly two weeks ago, with a choreo that was intended to show the way with Bernstein’s New Year’s Eve words about achieving great goals. Hertha coach Pal Dardai was able to moderate the difficult days for his team well and adjust the sporting focus. What he didn’t manage to do was change defensive behavior.
His assistant Tamás Bodog called it “childish” in the most recent league appearance in the 1:3 defeat at SV Wehen Wiesbaden – this description also fit the naive approach to all of the Palatinate’s goals. Elvedi and Tachie were given plenty of space and time, Kaloc was given the invitation to counterattack. You could feel sorry for Marius Gersbeck in the Hertha goal. The 28-year-old had imagined his competitive debut very differently after the summer turmoil surrounding the sentence to a fine for a fight in Austria.
Cheers at Reese’s comeback
The will to chase the big final goal could not be denied to the Berliners. Derry Scherhant, Haris Tabakovic and also Florian Niederlechner in his annual debut after a red card suspension lacked consistency in front of the FCK goal. And the people of Lauter: They were probably surprised at how easy it was for them to score goals at the final venue. They didn’t have to invest much.
There was great celebration at the start of the second half. Audience favorite Reese made his comeback after his corona infection. The fast winger also put a lot of pressure on the left side. The 26-year-old provided the impetus for Hertha to now attack with verve and more risk. But the next goal was scored again by Lauterer, who coldly finished off a counterattack by Kaloc. Reese’s goal came too late for a comeback.