Hertha strike late to beat Freiburg
Substitute Julian Schieber netted a late winner as Hertha Berlin beat SC Freiburg 2-1 in a match that came to life in the dying moments.
Goals: 1-0 Darida (62'), 1-1 Höfler (90+3'), 2-1 Schieber (90+5')
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Saturday's fixtures had been marked by some sweltering heat across Germany, and it was a similar story in the capital, the 35-degree heat contributing to a first half low on goalmouth action. Mitchell Weiser sent a speculative effort just past the far post, while the visitors enjoyed the best chance of the first period, Vincenzo Grifo seeing his shot deflected over from 12 yards.
To the fans' pleasure, the match opened up more after the interval and the home side began to find more joy in attacking positions. After Freiburg skipper Nicolas Höfler headed against his own bar, the deadlock was finally broken by Vladimir Darida, who collected Vedad Ibisevic's neat lay-off to lash low into the corner against his former club.
Hertha were comfortable and looked set to see the result out, only for Höfler to glance into the corner from Grifo's corner with 93 minutes on the clock. The Berliners were left shell-shocked, but they summoned one last push into the visiting box, and after Freiburg failed to clear, Schieber popped up to arrow in a neat finish and send the home fans into raptures.
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Talking point
Defeat to Brondby in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round was a disappointing way to start the season for Hertha, but victory over SSV Jahn Regensburg in the DFB Cup and this result in the league have been the perfect response from Pal Dardai's team.
Match stats
- Darida scored Hertha's first goal of the season as well as their last goal in 2015/16 (in a 2-1 loss to SV Darmstadt 98 on Matchday 33).Freiburg scored a league-high 26 goals from set pieces in Bundesliga 2 last season, while Grifo assisted a league-high 20 goals from dead-ball situations.Hertha's Per Skjelbred won 100 percent of his challenges in the first half.
Line-ups
Hertha: Jarstein - Pekarik, Langkamp, Brooks, Plattenhardt - Lustenberger, Skjelbred - Weiser (Esswein 77'), Darida (Hegeler 90'), Haraguchi - Ibisevic (c) (Schieber 85')
Coach: Pal Dardai
Freiburg: Schwolow - Gulde, Höfler (c), Söyüncü - Ignjovski (Bulut 66'), Günter - Haberer (Petersen 66'), Abrashi, Grifo - Niederlechner, Philipp
Coach: Christian Streich