Hertha Berlin held at home to Freiburg despite another goal from Ondrej Duda
Ondrej Duda was on target yet again for Hertha Berlin, but they were pegged back by Freiburg at the Olympiastadion.
Hertha Berlin 1-1 Freiburg
Goals: 1-0 Duda (7’), 1-1 Koch (36’)
The home side dominated the opening stages and were quickly rewarded with their quickest goal of the season. A through-ball from deep split the Freiburg defence, allowing the in-form Duda to run onto it down the left, cut inside and curl the ball beyond Alexander Schwolow for his sixth Bundesliga goal of the campaign. Hertha continued to dominate with Salomon Kalou coming close to doubling the lead with a rasping shot from the edge of the box that narrowly went over. However, the visitors struck against the run of play shortly before half-time when the ball broke to Robin Koch on the edge of the area and his effort took a telling deflection off Arne Maier and past Rune Jarstein into the goal.
Germany international Nils Petersen came on during the break for Freiburg, and the Bundesliga’s all-time top scoring substitute almost had an immediate impact as he latched onto a cross into the box before Valentino Lazaro cleared at the last second. At the other end, Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic also went close with a header that narrowly curved wide of the far post from Javairo Dilrosun’s cross. Freiburg looked to ensure the draw by bringing on former Bayern Munich youth left-back Chima Okoroji, the half-English defender making his senior debut. Luca Waldschmidt almost won it late on for the visitors when he connected with Christian Günter’s cutback, but Jarstein read it well to save down to his left. Hertha thought they had a penalty in the closing minutes and the chance to win the game when Palko Dardai went down in the box, but the referee reversed his decision after consulting with VAR and it finished all-square in the capital.
Want more Bundesliga Action?
Match stats
- Duda is Hertha’s top scorer this term with six goals, but the Slovakian midfielder is yet to register an assist.Only Erich Beer in 1975/76 has had more goals from eight games for Hertha (7) than Duda this season.Mathew Leckie came on for his 100th Bundesliga appearance - the first Australian to reach a century in the German top flight.Freiburg have lost just one of their last six in the Bundesliga.Christian Streich’s side have lost only one of their last 11 against Hertha (W3, D6).
Line-ups
Hertha: Jarstein – Lazaro, Lustenberger, Luckassen, Plattenhardt – Maier, Skjelbred – Kalou (Dardai 84’), Duda, Dilrosun (Leckie 62’) – Ibisevic (c) (Selke 71’)
Unused subs: Kraft, Baak, Mittelstädt, Darida
Absentees: Gersbeck (cruciate ligament), Grujic, Kade, Torunarigha (all ankle), Rekik (illness)
Coach: Pal Dardai
Freiburg: Schwolow – Kübler, Gulde, Heintz, Günter (c) – Koch – Haberer, Terrazzino (Petersen 46’), Höfler, Sallai (Okoroji 72’) – Waldschmidt (Lienhart 90’+1)
Unused subs: Flekken, Kammerbauer, Ravet, Höler
Absentees: Abrashi, Borello (both ankle), Frantz (calf), Gondorf (muscle), Kleindienst (back), Niederlechner (ankle), Stanko (knee), Stenzel (shoulder)
Coach: Christian Streich
Watch: Ondrej Duda reviews Hertha's draw with Freiburg
As it happened