One point earned in the last minute!

Hertha BSC drew 2-2 with league leaders Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (27/10/18). Salomon Kalou scored both goals for the team from Berlin.

Formation

After the 1-1 draw against SC Freiburg, head coach Pál Dárdai made three changes to his starting line-up with Niklas Stark, Karim Rekik and Maximilian Mittelstädt coming in for Derrick Luckassen, Javairo Dilrosun and Marvin Plattenhardt. Dortmund were without Bundesliga top scorer Paco Alcacer due to injury.

Match Summary

The hosts began the game very strongly and already in the third minute had created their first big chance of the game. Mario Götze set up Achraf Hakimi, who was only able to put his effort over the bar. Only a minute later, Dortmund were in the Hertha penalty area again and a Jadon Sancho shot had to be expertly blocked on the line by Karim Rekik. However, as the game went on, Hertha grew into the game and in the 10th minute, a Niklas Stark header from a Valentino Lazaro corner was saved by the Dortmund keeper. In the 18th minute, Jadon Sancho had the ball in the back of the net for Dortmund after a neat back heal and some good work by Marco Reus down the left, but the goal was rightly ruled out for offside. Nevertheless, ten minutes later Sancho had the ball in the net once again and this time it counted. It was a neat finish after some good work by Mario Götze down the left. It looked like the Berliners would be going into half time 1-0 down, but the chances came before the break. Ondrej Duda had a shot from outside the box just go wide of the post. One minute later, a superb ball from Maximilian Mittelstädt from the left, over to Salomon Kalou, saw the Ivorian through on goal and he converted passed the goalkeeper allowing Hertha to go in on level terms at the break.

The beginning of the second half saw Dárdai make one change, with Vladimir Darida making his comeback to Bundesliga football, coming on for Per Skjelbred. The Czech international immediately made an impact, playing a nice ball into Salomon Kalou who could only fire his effort over the bar. Although Hertha were threatening, Dortmund themselves also had chances. Axel Witsel played in Achraf Hakimi, who was only able to curve his effort past the post. A big missed opportunity for the home side. However, only moments later, Dortmund retook the lead through Jadon Sancho once again. Hakimi played a diagonal pass into the box, which managed to evade all the defenders and Sancho ghosted in at the back post to tap home. In the 86th minute, Dortmund had the chance to win the game after Reus played a superb cross into the box towards Jacob Bruun Larsen, but he was unable to finish and his effort went wide. In the last minute of the game, Hertha substitute Davie Selke chased down the Dortmund defender, took the ball and then was brought down in the box and the away side were awarded a penalty which Salomon Kalou converted with ease to make it 2-2 right at the death.

Conclusion and Outlook

The team from the capital currently sit in 5th in the Bundesliga table. Dortmund are still top of the table and remain unbeaten this season. Hertha will play at home next Saturday (3/11/18, 18:30 CET) against RB Leipzig.