Hamburger SV continued their rich vein of form at home as they secured three vital points in the battle for Bundesliga safety. Markus Gisdol’s side beat Hertha BSC 1-0 in the final game of matchday 23, extending their home run of six games without defeat. They have now taken 14 points from a possible 18 at the Volksparkstadion. Albin Ekdal scored the only goal of the game in the 77th minute.
For Hertha, who had beaten HSV on six of the previous seven meetings, the result was a real blow to their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Pal Dardai’s side lie four points off Hoffenheim in fifth place following the defeat.
Jarstein denies Müller brilliantly
"It will be a real tough nut to crack," predicted Gisdol ahead of the match and that’s exactly how things panned out. HSV were the slightly better side in the first half, but Bobby Wood and Co. struggled to break down the tough Hertha defence, with Aaron Hunt forcing a stretching save from Rune Jarstein with the best chance of the half.
Ekdal wins it for HSV
Meanwhile at the other end, Hertha struggled to create any clear-cut chances. Their troubles in front of goal were confirmed by the fact that only bottom side Darmstadt 98 (201) have had few shots this season than Dardai’s team (213).
The game looked destined to end a goalless draw, but a fine piece of combination play in the 77th minute was capped off with cool first-time finish by Ekdal to hand HSV all three points.