Our first win on the road with a dramatic end to the game
Pál Dardai made two changes to the starting XI that faced Braunschweig: fully recovered from his illness, Tjark Ernst came in for Robert Kwasigroch between the sticks and Smail Prevljak replaced the injured Palkó Dárdai up front.
An impressive performance: Prevljak with a goal and an assist
After a tepid start to the game from both sides, the Storks had the first real chance of the chance when Shūto Machino was found in a lot of space in the box from a left-field cross, but his shot was off target by quite some distance (9’). Just moments later, Hertha were on the attack at the other end of the pitch through Fabian Reese who beat three or four KSV players for pace on the left wing. His cross found Haris in the middle, who was denied by a good save from Holstein keeper Timon Weiner (10’). Our boys then made a couple of mistakes when playing it around at the back, but thankfully that didn’t result in any real chances for the hosts. Soon after, BSC broke the deadlock when Marten Winkler drove forward with the ball, before finding Reese out on the left. Our number 11 then put a perfect cross into Prevljak at the back post, who nodded the ball home with ease (27’). Prevljak was involved again before half time; his shot from over 20 yards out was parried by Weiner in the direction of Andreas Bouchalakis. The Greek then calmly tucked away his first goal for Hertha (39’), doubling Hertha’s lead before the break.
Kiel bounce back and lots of penalties
Kiel made three changes at half time and the substitutions had a clear impact on the game. Marcel Rapp’s side got a goal back through Benedikt Pichler’s header from a corner (54’). Barely a minute later, referee Florian Badstübner awarded a penalty to KSV, after Toni Leistner brought down Pichler in the box. Ernst got a hand to Steven Skrzybski’s penalty, but there was just too much power behind it to prevent it from landing in Hertha’s goal. Pál reacted to the poor start to the second half by making a triple substitution: Jonjoe Kenny, Bilal Hussein and Derry Scherhant replaced Michał Karbownik, Márton Dárdai and Winkler (68’). Ten minutes later, Prevljak was forced off injured and Bence Dárdai came on in his place (78’). There was a highly dramatic end to the game: while Tabaković was initially booked for a supposed dive in the box, Badstübner overturned this after a visit to the monitor and awarded the penalty to BSC. Our number 25 himself stepped up to the mark, but his shot was saved (88’). Just moments later, the referee pointed to the spot for Hertha again for a foul on Bence Dárdai. This time it was Reese who took the penalty and converted to make it 3-2. Unbelievable! KSV ended the game with ten men after Marvin Schulz received his second yellow card. Tabaković had the chance to put the game to bed, only to be denied by another good save from Weiner. Scherhant also failed to capitalise on an open goal right at the end of the game, but our boys ended up taking all three points back to Berlin nonetheless. Next up for BSC is a home game on Saturday night against FC St. Pauli.
Fabian Reese: If you'd wanted to write a script in favour of Hertha and me, this dramatic outcome would have been quite fitting. It was an emotional affair for me right from the off, which I really relished. But the most important thing for me as a Hertha BSC player was getting the three points. It could have gone either way at the end of the game and we’ve already had a few games this season when it hasn’t ended well for us, but today the luck was on our side. It’s fair to say that I won’t be forgetting today’s match any time soon.
Holstein Kiel: Weiner – M. Schulz, Ivezić (46‘ Komenda), Kleine-Bekel – T. Becker, Holtby, Porath (46‘ Remberg), Rothe – Skrzybski – Machino (46‘ Simakala), Pichler (74‘ Arp).
Hertha BSC: Ernst – Karbownik (68‘ Kenny), Leistner (C), Kempf, Dudziak – Bouchalakis, M. Dárdai (68‘ Hussein) – Winkler (68‘ Scherhant), Prevljak (78‘ B. Dárdai), Reese – Tabaković
Goals: 0-1 Prevljak (27‘), 0-2 Bouchalakis (39’), 1-2 Pichler (54’), 2-2 Skrzybski (57’), 2-3 Reese (90’+2)
Referee: Florian Badstübner
Yellow cards: M. Schulz, Rapp, T. Becker – M. Dárdai, Karbownik
Red cards: M. Schulz
Attendance: 15,034