A break of more than half an hour due to protests against the investor plans of the German Football League (DFL) overshadowed Hamburger SV’s victory in the top second division game at Hertha BSC. The game, which ended 2-1 (0-0) for HSV in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening, was about to be canceled.
HSV defied the pressure on head coach Tim Walter and jumped back to a promotion position. Hertha, however, remains out of the promotion race, nine points behind relegation third place. For the Berliners, for whom the sudden death of club boss Kay Bernstein two weeks ago is still having an impact, it was the next setback after the cup exit on Wednesday.
From the 53rd minute onwards, tennis balls kept flying onto the field from the Hertha corner. Appeals from Hertha coach Pal Dardai and the stadium announcer initially had no effect. After the game had been interrupted for around 20 minutes, referee Daniel Schlager sent the players off the field.
They returned after the throws were over and the game clock was reset to 52:30 minutes. The Hertha fans had recently rolled up their banner with the inscription “Finally stop investor madness, whether in the DFL or in the clubs”.
After the restart, HSV, who were clearly the better team in the first half, took the lead with an easy long-range shot from Miro Muheim (57th).
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Shortly afterwards, HSV keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes was only able to parry a shot from Hertha’s key player Fabian Reese, who came on as a substitute. Tabakovic won (62′). Ludovit Reis, who had just come into the game, headed the guests to victory in the final phase (83′).
