Bundesliga: Hertha BSC Berlin draws 1-1 at Arminia Bielefeld

Dhe first half was pure boredom, the second took on dramatic traits. In the end it was 1-1 between Arminia Bielefeld, second from bottom in the Bundesliga table, and Hertha BSC, third from bottom. A happy draw overall for Ostwestfalen, who equalized on Saturday in added time with a Nilsson header (90+1 minute) in front of 26,601 spectators in the sold-out Bielefeld stadium after Tousart had given the generally better Berliners the lead (55th minute).

This means that nothing has been decided in the fight for staying in the class two days before the end of the season, apart from the relegation of the Greuther Fürth game association, which has been fixed for a week. Hertha definitely has the best cards, four points ahead of VfB Stuttgart and six points ahead of DSC Arminia.

Gonzalo Castro, the most experienced professional in Bielefeld’s squad, reiterated his team’s unbroken optimism about remaining in the league after the game: “We still firmly believe in it. Bochum can take a big step forward next week. The coach took a lot of pressure off the players. He is an appearance in the dressing room and on the training ground.”

Marco Kostmann, the interim successor to Frank Kramer, who was released a week and a half ago, assessed the situation for his club as relatively positive. “We’re still able to stay in the Bundesliga with two games to go. I rate that as good.” His colleague Felix Magath, already familiar with the shoals and unexpected successes in the relegation battle at several stages in his long career, spoke of a “typical relegation duel from start to finish. We only really came under pressure in the final minutes. With great enthusiasm and commitment, Arminia then got the final score.”

His colleague Kostmann, who has been a goalkeeping coach for Arminia for years, said in the days leading up to the game, “I see a relaxed team that wants to play football together.” After eight games without a win, seven defeats and one draw, he had predicted: “We want to be more flexible in attacking play and improve the ball transport to the front.” A pious wish in the first 45 minutes. The Arminen tormented themselves in the need not to show any weaknesses, somewhat uninspired and unimaginative across the lawn. But Hertha also limited themselves to one promising scene, when Selke failed with a header at goalkeeper Ortega (23rd), to control this almost tiring duel between two teams who didn’t want to make any crucial mistakes.

After the break, the argument became more fiery and heated. First of all, the Bielefeld veteran Castro, instead of the slightly injured Austrian Schöpf in the game, missed a great opportunity when Wimmer released him (51st). The Berliners made it better a little later. Left-back Plattenhardt proved his extra quality when executing corner kicks. If his first attempt was blocked for another corner kick, the second cross ended up in the completely free Tousart, who used his opportunity to lead 1-0 for the more mature and until then cooler-looking team.

DSC Arminia’s series of defeats seemed to be continuing, especially after the sovereign referee Aytekin watched a supposed penalty foul by Pekarik on Nilsson on the stadium screen and rightly didn’t discover anything punishable (59′). Hertha defended their lead for a long time in a comparatively calm manner and in the end were annoyed that substitutes Wollschläger and Mittelstädt missed their mega counterattack chance (89th) in an unfocused and careless manner. With this, Hertha built up Arminen, who was now desperately fighting for their last chance, once again. Central defender Nilsson made it 1-1 with a header after Hack’s cross in added time. The last two matchdays will show whether it was of any use in the end.

Felix Magath wasn’t sure either and for a moment almost seemed to be dreaming that his Hertha would ultimately have to survive the relegation in a duel with his old hometown and favorite club Hamburger SV. It would not surprise him if it came to that. As far as HSV is concerned, he could be right with his forecast, but the first division club, which could still save itself with two playoffs, seems to be called VfB Stuttgart or Arminia Bielefeld.