Hertha wins against Fürth: After 87 seconds in the game, Hertha’s Neuer turns the game around

Stand: 17.09.2021| Reading time: 3 minutes

Pal Dardai put on his most beautiful smile and especially hugged match winner Jurgen Ekkelenkamp. “He’s an excellent footballer,” said the Hertha coach at DAZN, referring to his earlier statement that Hertha would “still have a lot of fun” with the Dutchman. The newcomer gave Hertha BSC the long-awaited second victory in a row with a 2-1 (0-0) win against SpVgg Greuther Fürth on his debut on Friday evening.

“We played a good game in the second half, the will was there, we deserved to win,” said Dardai. 87 seconds after being substituted on, the 21-year-old Ekkelenkamp, ​​who had come from Ajax Amsterdam, equalized (61st minute).

Before that, at the start of the fifth day of the Bundesliga match, Branimir Hrgota (57th) had put the guests in the lead with a penalty kick. Later on, the Dutchman Ekkelenkamp played a key role in the winning goal when he pressed the Fürth Maximilian Bauer after Marco Richter, who was also a substitute, and the latter maneuvered the ball into his own goal (79th). “It feels great,” said Ekkelenkamp, ​​admitting that she wasn’t happy about the place on the bench.

In the second half, Hertha played better, more determined and more aggressive in front of 21,372 spectators – and earned the three points thanks to the change of coach Dardai. Fürth is still waiting for the first win of the season in the league, remains at the bottom of the table with only one point. “That is very bitter because my team has invested a lot and with simple goals it gets lost,” said guest coach Stefan Leitl. The increasing Hertha moves up to ninth place with six points.

Dogged fight in midfield

Sports director Arne Friedrich wanted to see “more football” from his Hertha after the team had won their first victory (3: 1) at VfL Bochum, especially with a lot of fighting and a compact defense. But the floodlights of the Olympic Stadium showed early on that, as predicted by Dardai, there would be no “miracle kick”. One-on-one was the trump card, playful brilliance was not.

Ex-Schalke Suat Serdar, who scored two of the only five goals in Berlin in the first four games, set the first signal for the home side. After a nice individual performance, his shot from 16 meters just missed the far post. The guests, however, were by no means limited to defending themselves consistently, as coach Stefan Leitl had demanded. Again and again they moved into the Berlin half; Jeremy Dudziak, who was called into the starting XI for the first time, fitted in well. However, Fürth could not develop a goal danger at first.

After 25 minutes, Dardai, who had already changed his starting eleven to five positions, had to switch to defense. As in Bochum, the 17-year-old Linus Gechter moved to the headquarters for the Belgian defense chief Dedryck Boyata, who was injured in the thigh.

With a header to equalize

The fast players rarely got their chance. When Deyovaisio Zeefuik crossed Serdar and Myziane Maolida just wide of the ball. The newcomer from Nice was allowed to start for the first time and indicated his skills a few times, especially in dribbling. In the 68th minute, however, Maolida had to leave the field with an injury to his left thigh, and Marco Richter came on for him.

After the break, both teams abandoned their goal reluctance. Only Hrgota converted a penalty after Zeefuik hit the agile Dudziak in the penalty area on the foot. Then Hertha’s new signing Ekkelenkamp struck back 87 seconds after being substituted on. The Dutchman headed a corner from defender Marton Dardai to make it 1-1.

And Ekkelenkamp also played a key role in the second goal. After a cross from the substitute judge, Bauer wanted to clarify in front of Ekkelenkamp and unfortunately got the ball to his leg, from where it rolled into his own goal.

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