Hertha BSC’s strong start to the season continued on Sunday when they beat 1899 Hoffenheim 1-0 in the capital. The result means that Pal Dardai’s men are back in the top four - Borussia Mönchengladbach had temporarily overtaken them yesterday.
Huub Stevens is still looking for his first win as Hoffenheim boss. His first two games both ended goalless (against Köln and Frankfurt) but he’ll need to start picking up points fast as the defeat has seen his side slip to the bottom of the pile.
Eugen Polanski’s 30th minute own goal settled the game in the snowy capital. TSG stepped it up after the break and created a number of good chances but they failed to hit the back of the net. Hertha held on to record their seventh win of the season.
Ball altered
The snow began to fall soon after kick off and it didn’t take long for the visibility levels to drop. Consequently, referee Guido Winkmann decided that an orange ball was necessary. However, other than that, the weather didn’t impact the match.
The hosts were the stronger side throughout the first half but they needed a bit of help from Polanski to make their dominance count. The TSG player headed the ball in via the post. His keeper, Oliver Baumann, did all he could to keep it out but it was clear that the ball had crossed the line.
Hoffenheim improve but to no avail
Stevens’ team improved after the interval and started to create chances, although not many of them were overly threatening. Home keeper Rune Jarstein was rarely tested during the match and deservedly kept a clean sheet.
TSG’s best chance came in the final 10 minutes through Nadiem Amiri. However, his header went narrowly wide.