Digital derby win

Hertha duo of Pascal Köpke and Eren Poyraz defeated 1. FC Union in the fourth round of the ‘Bundesliga Home Challenge’ on Sunday (19/4/20).

Berlin – Pascal Köpke and eSports player Eren Poyraz both defeated their Union rivals on the Playstation to seal a 7-1 win on aggregate on the fourth weekend of the ‘Bundesliga Home Challenge’.

Poyraz faced former Hertha player Julius Kade in the opening match-up. After early misses by Cunha and Muhammed Kiprit, the Hertha pressure paid off, with Kiprit making it 1-0 after 33 minutes. The goalscorer could – and probably should – have made it 2-0 in the second half. Union then had a strong spell of their own, as Rune Jarstein was forced into a good save from Marius Bülter. Poyraz made some changes for the closing stages and they duly paid off. Substitute Pascal Köpke doubled Hertha’s lead with 11 minutes to play, before Vladimir Darida smashed home a third and final goal to seal a solid victory.

Köpke comes from behind – and scores with himself

The second game between Köpke and Union player Keven Schlotterbeck began with plenty of notable action. Köpke hit the post with his virtual self after just seven minutes, before Polter gave FCU the lead at the other end. Köpke, however, wasn’t stressed by the early deficit, and equalised through Darida in the 16th minute. Hertha’s number 14 then took the lead through himself in the 27th minute. He continued to press for more goals and found a third through Cunha (37’). The pace of the game slowed down after the half-time break, although Köpke still found a fourth goal through Darida to seal another convincing derby win.

“It was good fun playing against Julius Kade – he’s very good! I was able to win the game thanks to my experience in the end,” summarised Eren Poyraz. “I’m glad that I was able to give Pascal a strong lead ahead of his game – he did a great job in the second match,” said the eHerthaner. “I’m proud that I was able to play for Hertha in this eDerby and it’s great that we managed to win the overall tie!” After this derby success, Hertha have a strong record in the ‘Bundesliga Home Challenge’ overall, having won three out of the four ties, with a goal difference of 23-18.