Bundesliga round 24: HSV 2 - 0 Hertha
HSV returned to winning ways in front of 44,000 in the AOL Area this afternoon, as Coach Klaus Toppmöller's side deservedly won 2-0 against Hertha and now move up to eighth place in the table again. As we reported this week, something out of the ordinary always happens when HSV play Hertha at home. This time it was the red cards shown to first van Burik for pushing over Hollerbach, then Arne Friedrich, who fouled Romeo as the Argentinean striker was on his way to goal.
Nervous start by both sides
Those present in Hamburg saw a nervous start to the match by both sides. HSV had the better of the early chances, with Romeo capitalising on a catastrophic mistake by Marko Rehmer only to fluff a gilt edged opportunity on 26 minutes, as he was one on one with Fiedler in the Hertha goal
Rahn opens the scoring
On 33 minutes HSV took the lead. Christian Rahn blasted a free kick from 28 yards out past the badly placed wall… and into the bottom right hand corner of Fiedler's goal. The shot was by no means unstoppable. Just before the break Hertha had their best chance of the first half as Dardai ballooned the ball over from close range, as it looked easier to score. Around 2,000 Hertha fans were at the match which HSV led at half time 1-0.
Trouble for Hertha
The capital city side began the second half the brighter of the two sides. On 52 minutes first Bobic and then Reina missed chances within 60 seconds of each other. A couple of minutes later, the match was all over bar the shouting for Hertha. A tussle in midfield ended with a push by the Hertha skipper van Burik on Hollerbach. The match referee Schmidt went to his back pocket and gave the Dutchman his marching orders.
And then there were nine...
As if that wasn't enough... Arne Friedrich was also sent off for fouling Bernardo Romeo on the edge of the area. Romeo had broken through the Hertha defence and was well on the way to a good scoring opportunity. The visitors (understandably…), never had a prayer after going down to nine men, so it seemed only a matter of time before HSV would score again, which they did in the 71st minute. Kling (who came on as a second half substitute for the injured Hollerbach, and did very well), broke down the left. As the depleted visitor's defence was trying desperately top cover, the youngster played in a low ball to the far post, where Romeo gleefully slotted home his 10th goal of the season from close range.
After the killer second goal, the home side just played their way to the end of a match which they deserved to win on reflection. Hertha started the match second from bottom in the Bundesliga table, and are still there. Next week Hertha take on mighty Bayern Munich at home, without the services of skipper van Burik and Arne Friedrich. HSV must travel to take on Borussia Mönchengladbach in round 25.
HSV: Wächter (52. Starke) - Wicky, Hoogma, Ujfalusi, Hollerbach (68. Kling) - Mahdavikia, Benjamin, Jarolim, Rahn - Romeo (83. Takahara), Barbarez
Hertha: Fiedler - Rehmer, van Burik, Simunic - A. Friedrich, Dardai, Fathi - Reina, Neuendorf (73. Rafael), Marcelinho (82. Pinto) - Bobic (69. Madlung)
Goals: 1:0 Rahn (33.), 2:0 Romeo (71.)
Source: HSV.de
