Hertha drew their final game 1-1 to Cottbus

Berlin - Bundesliga 2 champions Hertha BSC drew their final game of the season 1-1 at home to Energie Cottbus, in front of a massive crowd of 63,267 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin on Sunday afternoon (19.05.13). After going a goal behind and down to ten men for the second half, the capital city side fought back to equalise through a first ever league goal by John Anthony Brooks three minutes from full time. The point makes coach Jos Luhukay's team the record holders for points in a Bundesliga 2 season.

Hertha skipper Peter Niemeyer made the squad but was on the bench at first after weeks on the sidelines suffering from the after effects of concussion. Ronny and Peter Petarik returned from suspension, but only the Brazilian started the game. Luhukay picked Sascha Burchert in goal and Maik Franz in central defence. Cottbus welcomed back Michael Schulze at right back also after suspension, while Alexander Bittroff played at left back in place of Frenchman Guillaume Rippert.

Referee fails to see hand ball

The visitors from the Lausitz region had the first chance of the game. A deflected high ball landed at the feet of Boubacar Sanogo, before the former HSV forward could react though, Fabian Lustenberger made a timely challenge to clear the ball away for a corner (3.). At the other end a crisp ball by Sami Allagui into the box found Änis Ben-Hatira, who missed the target with an attempted bicycle kick (13.). Cottbus keeper Thorsten Kirschbaum reached another cross by Ben-Hatira before Adrian Ramos could head the ball home (22.). Kirschbaum was called into action two minutes later to prevent a free kick by Ronny from going in.

Cottbus then took the lead out of the blue and somewhat controversially. Home keeper Burchert did well to keep out an effort by Stiven Rivic, but the ball fell to Nicolas Farina who scored with the rebound. Match referee Deniz Aytekin failed to see a handball by Farina late in the move (28.). Kirschbaum did well to keep out a Ronny block buster from 25 metres out (32.). The home side pressed forward trying to find a way through the massed Cottbus defence. On 43 minutes Ramos nodded a Ronny corner narrowly over the crossbar. During injury time at the end of the opening half Farina fell under a challenge by Franz on the edge of the area. Because Franz was the last man, referee Aytekin had no choice but to show him a straight red card.

Hertha down to ten men for the second half

Forced to reshuffle his side, Luhukay replaced Allagui on the wing with Ben Sahar, while the vacant spot in central defence was filled by Lustenberger. Once again the visitors had the first decent chance of the half, as Sanogo was thwarted a collective effort by Burchert and Brooks . Moments later Sahar crossed from the left and Ramos missed a header by a whisker (47.). Cottbus had more room to operate in after Hertha were down to ten men. Banovic headed a free kick over the bar (50.), before Burchert punched a fierce shot from distance by Alexander Bittroff clear of the danger zone (56.). Hertha continued to press forward and Kirschbaum got to a cross by Kobiashvili a split second before Ben-Hatira (62.).

Cottbus looked useful at set pieces. On 65 minutes Sahar cleared a Banovic header off his own goal line. Eight minutes later Kluge nicely found Ben-Hatira who fired over from an acute angle. Ronny lacked accuracy with two efforts, first a volley (73.) and then a free kick (75.). Hertha's best chance fell to Sahar who was superbly played in by fellow substitute Sandro Wagner. Advancing alone on Kirschbaum Sahar pulled his shot wide of the far post (77.). Then Hertha's third substitute almost got his name on the score sheet with his first touch of the game. Niemeyer headed a free kick agonisingly wide of the far post (81.).

Brooks scores his first ever goal

Hertha were finally rewarded for their non stop effort on 87 minutes. A beautifully-weighted cross by Marcel Ndjeng floated onto the head of Brooks who headed the ball home from close range to bring the home side level. After that the huge crowd celebrated their way through the final minutes. As time was blown on the 1-1 draw, Niemeyer was finally handed the Bundesliga 2 champions silverware to crown a superb season by Luhukay and his men.