Hertha got off to a rotten start as John Anthony Brooks put the ball in his own net before 2 penalties from Sejad Salihović put Hoffenheim 3-0 up at half time. Goals from Sven Schipplock and Sebastian Rudy rounded off a superb win for Hoffenheim.
Despite their being only 5 points between these 2 sides they had very different reason for wanting to finish the Hinrunde with 3 points. After yesterday’s results Hoffenheim fell to 8th but knew that with a win they could put themselves right back in the race for Europe after their 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. Hertha remained in 13th after yesterday’s results but knew that with Werder Bremen’s win against Borussia Dortmund they were now only one point ahead of the relegation zone.
After their narrow defeat to Leverkusen, head coach Markus Gisdol decided 3 changes were required, bringing in Eugen Polanski, Sejad Salihović and Sven Schipplock for Tarik Elyounoussi, Sebastian Rudy and Ádam Szalai, who all dropped to the bench. Hertha’s last game was a stunning 4-4 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt. Hertha will be extremely disappointed with the result as at one point they were 3-0 up before going on to concede 2 goals in added time to make it 4-4. Despite this poor defensive performance only one change was made with Roy Beerens being replaced by Marcel N’Djeng who came in at right back.
Änis Ben-Hatira was Hertha’s creator-in-chief in the first half and he created the first opportunity of the game when he beat Jin-Su Kim before sending in a low and dangerous ball but Julian Schieber was caught unawares and as a result was unable to reach it. The first clear-cut chance of the game fell to Hoffenheim’s Kevin Volland after a corner from Salihović found it’s way to Schipplock at the back post and he pulled it back for Volland. The Germany U21 Captain immediately found himself under pressure but worked the ball into space before his effort was blocked just in front of the goal line.
The away side then took the lead in somewhat fortunate circumstances after John Anthony Brooks turned the ball into is own net. Volland had the ball on the left hand side and beat his man before sending a fierce ball in between the keeper and the back four, Brooks appeared to be caught in two minds and stuck his leg out sending it into his own net.
The USA international then made his own afternoon worse when less than 2 minutes later he gave away a penalty after appearing to kick Schipplock in the chest after the TSG striker got to the ball just before him. In the replays the decision seemed harsh but Brooks was foolish to swing his leg so wildly. Salihović stepped up and fired home his first goal of the season.
In the 29th minute Volland nearly made it 3-0 after Brooks headed a cross straight into his path before the 22-year old tried to lift over Thomas Kraft in the Hertha goal and it was only just wide. The home side could only muster 2 shots on goal in the first half and the best of those fell to Ben-Hatira when he found himself on his own inside the box but with no support he had to shoot from a tight angle and Oliver Baumann saved easily.
Hoffenheim’s Polish midfielder Eugen Polanski then had a superb effort palmed away by Kraft. The ball was laid off for the 28-year old and he ran onto it and hit it beautifully first time and it seemed destined for the top corner but Kraft reached across superbly and put it out for a corner.
They didn’t have to wait long for the 3rd goal as it came just 4 minutes later courtesy of another penalty, this time the offender was Nico Schulz. Andreas Beck was inside the box and under pressure from Schulz he tried to spin before going down and referee Peter Sippel once again pointed to the spot. However replays seemed to indicate that Beck’s fall was down to him losing his footing rather than any contact from Schulz but Sippel had given the penalty and once again Salihović sent it home superbly.
Jos Luhukay clearly had some serious words with his side at half time because at the start of the 2nd half they came out and straight away went on the attack. They won a costless kick in a dangerous position in the 49th minute but Ronny’s delivery only found Beck and the Hoffenheim Captain headed behind for a corner which in the end came to nothing. Their best chance fell to Ben-Hatira after a quick pass down the left hand-side from Hajime Hosogai allowed Schulz to break and the German winger crossed for Ben-Hatira, who even on the slide should’ve scored with what was pretty much an open goal. Instead he could only put past the wrong side of the post to the surprise of many around the ground.
This appeared to take the wind from Hertha’s sails as for the next 10 minutes the game was extremely quiet with neither side threatening but this deadlock was broken with a quick counter from Hoffenheim that gave Schipplock his first league goal of the season. A costless kick for Hertha had all but 3 of their players in advanced positions and when Schipplock ran clear with the ball it 3 against 3. He passed to Volland who slid it to Firmino who had timed his run perfectly and all he had to do was slide the ball across for Schipplock who slotted home easily.
10 minutes later it got even worse for Luhukay’s charges as Firmino made a dazzling run down the left. He was dealt with but as Peter Niemeyer came away with the ball he was put under pressure and attempted to run back into his own box. Firmino was stood in the box and simply had to outmuscle the stumbling Niemeyer before sliding it across goal for substitute Sebastian Rudy to slot home to make it 5-0 and well and truly finish off the game and pile the pressure on Hertha’s Jos Luhukay.