Honours even in Braunschweig

Hertha made two changes for their trip to Braunschweig, with captain Toni Leistner and the previously suspended Florian Niederlechner returning to the starting XI in place of Márton Dárdai, who missed out through injury, and Haris Tabaković. Former Hertha player Anderson Lucoqui was on the bench for the hosts.

After the sides traded blows in the early stages, it was Braunschweig who took an early lead as Fabio Kaufmann seized on a loose ball and fired coolly into the far corner (14’). Hertha applied pressure for much of the half, while Braunschweig looked to play on the break, but there were to be no further shots on goal and the sides went into the dressing rooms at half-time with the score standing at 1-0. 

Quick reply and a man advantage

Pál Dárdai made a raft of changes at half-time as he sought to change the course of the game – Tabaković, Ibrahim Maza and former Braunschweig man Linus Gechter replaced Bouchalakis, Winkler and Niederlechner for the second period. The substitutes had an immediate impact, with Tabaković forcing a save from Braunschweig ‘keeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann (46’), before nodding just over from a Reese cross (48’). Hertha would not, however, have to wait too long before finding the back of the net, as Ibrahim Maza slotted home with aplomb after being played in by Reese (52’). The following 25 minutes were a fairly even affair, but the match was turned on its head in the 77th minute when Hasan Kuruçay saw red for a studs-up challenge on Dárdai’s knee. Hertha pushed hard for a winner, but no second goal was forthcoming and the score remained 1-1. The Blue-Whites’ 2. Bundesliga campaign continues next Friday as they welcome Holstein Kiel to the Olympiastadion (1st March, 18:30 CET).

Speaking after the game, Toni Leistner said: "We can't perform like we did in the first half. We didn't have a single shot at goal - it was catastrophic and, simply, not good enough. But we showed what we're capable of after the break. Overall, it was a fair result."

Eintracht Braunschweig:  Hoffmann – Ivanov, Bičakčić, Kuruçay – Rittmüller, Kaufmann (Griesbeck 86’), Krauße (Decarli 80’), Helgason (Tauer 64’), Donkor (Lucoqui 87’) – Gómez (Ujah 64’), Philippe

Hertha BSC:  Ernst – Kenny, Klemens, Leistner (C), Karbownik – Barkok, Bouchalakis (Gechter 46’) – Winkler (Maza 46’), P. Dárdai (Christensen 79’), Reese – Niederlechner (Tabaković 46’)

Goals:  1-0 Kaufmann (14’), 1-1 Maza (52’)

Referee:  Patrick Alt

Yellow cards:  Krauße, Bičakčić

Red card:  Kuruçay

Attendance:  22,636