Vedad Ibisevic scored his first two goals against Köln two matches ago. Today, he added two more to his total with Salomon Kalou adding another in the first half as Hertha defeated Hamburg SV at the Olympiastadion by a score of 3-0.
It took only four minutes before the visitors started putting pressure on Hertha's back four with Lewis Holtby and Pierre-Michel Lasogga forced Rune Jarstein into a couple of early saves.
Hamburg came close to scoring after 13 minutes had ticked off the clock. Pierre-Michel Lasogga got on the end of a cross from the left-back, Dennis Dikemeier, and nearly found the back of the net but the header was a little inaccurate as he missed the target.
Hertha strike in opening twenty minutes
The opening goal came in the 17th minute of the match as the home side struck first through as Mitchell Weiser played in the 30-year-old striker with a perfectly weighted ball. Kalou, from a yard inside the area, found the top left corner of the goal.
Lasogga looked to have gotten a good shot away a few minutes before the halftime interval, but Lustenberger blocked the shot very well and on the ensuing corner, Jarstein was able to catch the ball easily to ease the danger and keep his side in front before the end of the first half.
Halftime: Hertha BSC 1-0 Hamburg SV
Opportunities were few and far between in the opening 45 minutes of action. However, the hosts still had the lead as they finished their only good chance of the half.
Hertha nearly doubled their lead seven minutes after the restart as they went out on a counter, leaving Hamburg defenders in the dust. Genki Haraguchi fed Kalou with a pass who squared it back towards Vladimir Darida. The latter fired towards the frame of the goal, his effort though, missed inches wide of the right post.
The Japanese midfielder was again involved in a build up for the hosts as he found Kalou once more in the 68th minute. The Ivorian striker could have fired a shot away as he had enough time and space to get something good away. Instead, the ball found Cigerci who hit his shot directly at the visiting goalkeeper.
Ibisevic brace seals the deal
In a span of two minutes, Ibisevic scores twice to put the match out of reach for Hamburg. Tolga Cigerci battled in the air with a defender and the ball fell straight into the path of the Bosnian striker and made no mistake with the finding the back of the net from close range. Hertha hit the visitors on the break off of a corner and Alexander Baumjohann slipped in the goal scorer, and with the opposition's defense, placed the ball perfectly behind the goalkeeper.
This was a good victory for Hertha as they now sit in the fourth spot in the table before the international break while Hamburg suffered their second defeat in a row, dropping into the bottom half of the Bundesliga table.