Hertha BSC defeat Magdeburg
Pál Dárdai made two changes to the side that won in Fürth, with the injured Marc Kempf replaced in the centre of defence by Márton Dárdai, while Haris Tabaković returned to the starting line-up for Florian Niederlechner, who is currently suspended. Fabian Reese took the captain’s armband, with Toni Leistner on the bench.Hertha started brightly, but it was the visitors who took the lead in the 22nd minute, as Magdeburg’s top scorer and captain Barış Atik fired into the far corner. Hertha responded in the 33rd minute when Xavier Amaechi fouled Reese, and the winger made no mistake from the spot to level the scoring. Hertha were given a boost four minutes later as Jean Hugonet saw red for a challenge on Jonjoe Kenny (37’), and Palkó Dárdai curled the resulting free-kick into the top corner to complete the turnaround (39’). As half-time approached, the game was interrupted due to a ball-based protest, and the teams went into the dressing rooms with four minutes of stoppage time still to play.
The second period began with the end of the first half. Following this, the teams switched ends, and Magdeburg levelled the scoring once again in the 51st minute as Müller headed in from a corner. However, it wouldn't be too long before Hertha once again had cause to celebrate, as Reese scored his second after Tabaković’s effort was parried by Reimann (69’). Magdeburg hit the bar late on, but offered little else going forward in the final twenty minutes, as Hertha secured their ninth win of the season to move onto 32 points.
Speaking after the game, match-winner Fabian Reese said: "At the end of the day, we won, and that makes us very happy. I'll gladly have a wild game as long as we win in the end. Going into half-time and restarting like we did this evening was definitely a first. It was crazy, but nothing's impossible in this sport. My goal for the rest of the season? Twelve games, twelve wins!"
Hertha BSC: Ernst – Kenny, Klemens, M. Dárdai, Karbownik – Barkok, Bouchalakis (Hussein 60’) – Winkler (Scherhant 68’), P. Dárdai (Maza 68’), Reese (C) (Christensen 89’) – Tabaković (Gechter 89’)
1. FC Magdeburg: Reimann – T. Müller, Elfadli, Heber – Bockhorn, Hugonet, Gnaka, El Hankouri – Amaechi (Krempicki 45+1’), Schuler (Castaignos 72’), Atik (C)
Goals: 0-1 Atik (22’), 1-1 Reese (33’), 2-1 P. Dárdai (39’), 2-2 T. Müller (51’), 3-2 Reese (59’)
Referee: Florian Exner
Yellow cards: Kenny, Atik, T. Müller, El Hankouri
Red card: Hugonet
Attendance: 52,652