Hertha BSC wins 3:2 against 1 FC Magdeburg

Hertha BSC and 1. FC Magdeburg delivered another spectacle in the second soccer league. After the 6:4 victory in the previous round, the Berliners were able to take revenge on matchday 22 with a 3:2 (2:1) win. In front of 52,652 spectators in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, captain Baris Atik had put the visitors ahead in the 22nd minute. Berlin captain Fabian Reese scored a penalty (33') and Palko Dardai (39') turned the game around against ten Magdeburg players. Jean Hugonet was shown the red card in the 37th minute after an emergency brake.

Magdeburg's Tobias Müller (51) equalized after the break to make it 2-2 despite being outnumbered, before Reese put Hertha on the road to victory with his second goal of the evening (59). With 32 points, Hertha have now caught up with the top seven in the league, while Magdeburg remain in mid-table on 27 points. "Now the starting position is better. Let's be happy today and prepare for Braunschweig from Sunday," said match-winner Reese.

FCM captain Atik was angry. "For the first time, it's extremely difficult for me to go into the dressing room and find words. We had Hertha under control. We invited them with our mistakes and were punished harshly for them. It's time for us to stop making these individual mistakes and finally take the next step," said Atik.

Hertha coach Pal Dardai made two changes from the previous week. Marton Dardai replaced the injured Marc Oliver Kempf in the Berlin defense, while the recovered goalscorer Haris Tabakovic replaced the suspended Florian Niederlechner. For the visitors, Hugonet came in for Leon Bell Bell in midfield.

Hertha started aggressively and had the first chance after six minutes through Fabian Reese, who failed to beat Magdeburg goalkeeper Dominik Reimann from an acute angle. Five minutes later, Palko Dardai and Marten Winkler missed a brace in front of the Magdeburg box. It was all the more surprising when the visitors took the lead. After a combination via Mohammed El Hankouri and Luca Schuler, captain Atik beat Berlin goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.

Hertha appeared confused and almost conceded a second goal after an Atik free-kick by Schuler (27'). That's why the equalizer came as much of a surprise. Reese was fouled by Xavier Amaechi after a counter-attack and converted the spot-kick safely (33'). Four minutes later, Magdeburg's Hugonet had to leave the field early after an emergency brake just outside the penalty area. Palko Dardai converted the resulting free-kick directly into the top left-hand corner (39'). Shortly before the break, the Berlin crowd from the Ostkurve threw tennis balls onto the pitch for around six minutes in protest at the DFL's investment plans, prompting referee Florian Exner (Münster) to call the teams off at half-time.

The players themselves were not rattled by the interruptions. First, Müller equalized with a header from a corner before Reese scored the winner after a Tabakovic shot (59'). In stoppage time, Magdeburg's Tatsuya Ito hit the crossbar. However, the visitors' subsequent efforts, which also saw goalkeeper Reimann appear in the Hertha penalty area, were unsuccessful.