It was evident from the start what Bielefeld were going to do, especially in the formation they lined up in; sit back and defend until they simply could not defend any longer. Hertha, on the other hand, but were patient in their build up. However, the 1. Bundesliga side just could not break them down and looked like they just did not care either. In the end, that is what cost them. Bielefeld, who are in first place in the third division, defeated Hertha Berlin on penalties in the German Cup.

The home side had the first chance of the night, with ten minutes gone off the clock, through Tom Schutz, but Thomas Kraft was equal to the task he tipped the holding midfielder’s header over the cross bar and out for a corner. Kraft was called into action seconds later off of the ensuing corner and again kept Bielefeld off of the score sheet in the early going.

Chances were few and far between, but in his first DFB Pokal match, ex-Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou hit a beautiful header off of a Berlin corner, but the young Alexander Schwolow, who is on loan from Freiburg, reacted well and dove to his right to keep out the shot that was destined to go into the bottom corner. That was about it for the first half as both sides couldn’t break each other down and looked to have ran out of ingenuity going forward, with the two clubs playing very compact defensively.

After the interval, it was much of the same. A few half chances here and there, but nothing of importance. Ronny was introduced to bring a bit of width and pace to the match, but Bielefeld made him anonymous throughout the last half an hour, just like the rest of the Hertha players. The Brazilian, however, did have one chance shortly after being introduced, but his right footed effort from the top left of the box bounced wide of the near post.

So, we went to extra time. The home side hadn’t used any subs and that kind of saved them in the end. Hertha were worn out and these fresh faces were able to keep Bielefeld within firing distance of perhaps winning the match. In the penalty shootout, Schieber had his shot saved while Wanger missed his spot kick as Bielefeld won 4:2 on pens, a huge result for the 3. Liga club. Meanwhile, questions will be asked around the Hertha camp about what needs to do be done if they wish to remain in the first division, because based on these results, changes need to be made sooner rather than later.