Things didn’t change too much after the break. Valentin Stocker (61’) and Salomon Kalou (64’) had chances to put the visitors in front, however, the best chance of the game fell to HSV’s Olic but he couldn’t convert (69’). That miss ultimately proved costly as Langkamp converted late on to win the game for Hertha.
Hertha won 1-0
HSV are edging closer towards the relegation zone
Hertha win 1-0 in Hamburg
Joe Zinnbauer’s Hamburger SV side are being dragged deeper into the relegation dogfight. The Bundesliga’s only ever present side are in serious danger of losing that accolade after today’s 1-0 defeat to Hertha BSC. Sebastian Langkamp scored the winner in the 84th minute.
HSV are now six games without a win and could find themselves in relegation spot by the end of the weekend. On the other, Hertha are now unbeaten in four and have climbed to 13th in the table and are six points clear of the drop zone. Cléber was sent off for the hosts shortly before the goal was scored.
Van der Vaart returns
HSV impressed early on and created chances but failed to capitalise; they’ve only scored 16 goals all season. As the game progressed Hertha created the most dangerous chances and they took the lead shortly before the end when Langkamp headed home Marvin Plattenhardt’s free kick.
Zinnbauer’s line up for this relegation six-pointer was surprising. Captain Rafael van der Vaart returned to the starting line-up, having missed four games. Former Hertha striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga was on the bench; Ivica Olic was the lone striker.
The hosts started at a furious pace and created chances early on. Thomas Kraft tipped Zoltan Stieber’s deflected effort behind and Cléber headed wide from the resulting corner (6’). Van der Vaart (15’) and Olic (19’) also had chances to give them the lead.
Adler relatively untested between the sticks
Hertha didn’t create much in the opening exchanges; their only threat came from set pieces. As the first half progressed Pal Dardai’s side started to stamp their authority on the game and caused the Hamburg backline some problems. Goalkeeper René Adler, who replaced the suspended Jaroslav Drobny, was rarely tested, however.
Things didn’t change too much after the break. Valentin Stocker (61’) and Salomon Kalou (64’) had chances to put the visitors in front, however, the best chance of the game fell to HSV’s Olic but he couldn’t convert (69’). That miss ultimately proved costly as Langkamp converted late on to win the game for Hertha.