Rocket Ronny gives Hertha derby win
Munich - On a noisy night in the Alte Försterei it was Jos Luhukay's Hertha BSC Berlin that came out on top over 1. FC Union Berlin in the capital city's derby, as goals from Sandro Wagner and Ronny gave them a 2-1 victory.
Parity shortlived
Cries of 'Iron Union' rang out from the partisan home crowd as the teams entered the field, but it was Jos Luhukay's Hertha team, impervious to the hostile atmosphere, that settled into their stride quickest. Änis Ben-Hatira was at the heart of all their good work, crossing for Roman Hubnik to head wide and then seeing a speculative volley saved by Union keeper Daniel Haas.
When Hertha eventually did take the lead, it was unsurprisingly Ben-Hatira that supplied the goal. Capitalising on a defensive error, he sped down the wing and played in Peer Kluge, whose neat lay-off was swept home by Wagner to give the away side a deserved lead at the break.
Uwe Neuhaus' men emerged for the second half rejuvenated and came within a whisker of levelling matters on 47 minutes, but Adam Nemec could only divert Markus Karl's centre wide of the post. But pressing higher up the pitch and playing with a quicker tempo, it was now Union that were dominating play and, after Nemec was denied by Sascha Burchert, parity was restored when substitute Christopher Quiring stooped to head in at the back post.
The hosts were not level for long, however, as Ronny smashed a free-kick straight through Haas to put the Old Lady back in front against the run of play. Union threw bodies forward in search of an equaliser but their efforts came to no avail and they remain in 16th place, while Hertha move up to 6th.
Bernie Reeves
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