Hertha win away in Fürth
Pál Dárdai was forced to make several changes to his starting lineup for the away clash against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Pascal Klemens played alongside Marc Kempf in central defence, replacing the suspended Toni Leistner. Linus Gechter, Smail Prevljak and Tony Rölke were absent through illness. In his first start since early December, Fabian Reese took the captain’s armband. Ibrahim Maza made the squad for the first time this season, and Hertha youngster Tim Hoffman was named in the matchday squad for the first time in his career.
The Kleeblätter had the best of the early chances, but Hertha looked to have opened the scoring first after 22 minutes, only for Florian Niederlechner’s goal to be ruled out for a foul in the build-up. BSC resisted pressure from their hosts and were rewarded shortly afterwards, as an outswinging corner from Palkó Dárdai was met with aplomb by Marc Kempf to make it 1-0 (34’). Derry Scherhant replaced Winkler shortly before the break (39’), with the winger on a yellow. Scherhant nearly made an immediate impact but saw his effort saved, and Hertha headed into the break with a slender lead.
Despite Hertha creating chances early in the second half, it was the Bavarians who scored the next goal, with Branimir Hrgota finding the top corner in the 56th minute. It would not take long for the blue and whites to respond, though, as another corner – this time from Jonjoe Kenny – found Kempf in the box, who restored the lead with the help of a deflection (63’). This would prove to be Kempf’s final contribution in the game, with the defender going down injured and being replaced by Hoffmann for his BSC debut (67’).
After losing their senior centre back, the situation was soon complicated further for Hertha as a protest from the fans saw the game halted. After the restart, Ernst had to be alert to keep out an effort from Green (85’). Due to the lengthy delay caused by the protests, eleven minutes of stoppage time were added on. Ibrahim Maza made his return from injury, and despite a late sending-off for Niederlechner, Hertha were able to hold on for a 2-1 win.
Today's captain, Fabian Reese, had this to say after the victory: "We put everything into our individual battles, created chances, and scored goals at the right time. We were all there for each other as a collective. We could have finished the game off sooner, but that was a very good sign after the last few weeks."
SpVgg Greuther Fürth: Urbig – Jung, Michalski, Dietz – Asta (Meyerhöfer 69’), Green, Wagner, Haddadi (Calhanoglu 90+4’)– Hrgota – Lemperle (Petkov 62’), Sieb (Popp 90+4’)
Hertha BSC: Ernst – Kenny, Klemens, Kempf (Hoffmann 67’), Karbownik – Barkok, Bouchalakis – Winkler (Scherhant 39’), P. Dárdai (G. Christensen 67’), Reese (C) (Maza 90+6) – Niederlechner
Goals: 0-1 Kempf (34’), 1-1 Hrgota (56’), 1-2 Kempf (63’)
Referee: Marco Fritz
Yellow cards: Winkler, Zeefuik – Jung, Green
Red card: Niederlechner
Attendance: 13,459