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Sonny Kittel and Josha Vagnoman (right) bury goal scorer Ludovit Reis in a jubilant bunch
Photo: Martin Rose/Getty Images
Second division club Hamburger SV has come a big step closer to promotion.
In the relegation first leg, the former Bundesliga guest defeated Hertha BSC 1-0 (0-0) in Berlin, an arc lamp by Ludovit Reis made the difference in favor of the guests (57th minute).
Hertha now have to catch up on Monday (8.30 p.m., TV: Sat.1) in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion in order to remain in the Bundesliga after 16th place last season.
Even as the supposed favorite – the Bundesliga team has held the class eight times in the past nine relegation duels – Hertha BSC did not deviate from the style learned under interim coach Felix Magath.
For the spectators, this meant a game that was extremely disorganized over long stretches of the first half, in which the Berliners were only concerned with defensive stability.
Hamburger SV was playfully superior without setting too many highlights of their own.
Only rarely did the sold-out Olympic Stadium see anything like a goal threat before the break.
The referee canceled the scene twice: First Harm Osmers had to use the video evidence to check an alleged handball by Peter Pekarik in the Hertha penalty area, but in slow motion he recognized an actual handball by HSV professional Maximilian Rohr a few seconds earlier (35th).
Then Ishak Belfodil, who headed a cross from Maximilian Mittelstädt into the goal (44'), but was a few centimeters offside, cheered.
Between the two opportunities, HSV attacker Robert Glatzel had another chance to take the lead with a header, but Hamburg's top attacker only hit the side netting (40').
Reis' cross is the best shot on goal
It was fitting for the match that the winning goal was an accidental product: on the left wing, midfielder Reis tried to get the ball in the middle.
The Dutchman managed that in a curious way: Reis' cross found no teammates, but sailed as an arc lamp over Hertha substitute keeper Oliver Christensen, who replaced the injured Alexander Schwolow, Rune Jarstein and Marcel Lotka, past the inside post and into the goal (57th minute). ).
Belfodil failed when attempting a direct answer to Daniel Heuer Fernandes (61st), after which HSV was closer to the second goal than Hertha to the equalizer.
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