Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin share the spoils following six-goal thriller in Lower Saxony
Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin played out a Bundesliga classic for the ages with Vedad Ibisevic, Yunus Malli, Mario Gomez, Karim Rekik, Divock Origi and Davie Selke all on the scoresheet in a Lower-Saxony thriller.
Wolfsburg 3-3 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 0-1 Ibisevic (1'), 1-1 Malli (41'), 2-1 Gomez (44'), 2-2 Rekik (53'), 3-2 Origi (60'), 3-3 Selke (83')
Penalty miss Gomez (20')
Ibisevic had gone 12 Bundesliga games without scoring prior to this dramatic encounter, his last goal coming against Wolfsburg in April. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international rediscovered his scoring touch against the same opponents after just 21 seconds here, the 33-year-old latching onto Valentino Lazaro’s pass before prodding in. Desperate to end a run of seven home matches without a win, the Wolves bit back and despite Gomez’s penalty miss and two disallowed goals for offside, Yunus Malli subsequently nodded home an equaliser. It got even better for the hosts prior to the break, Gomez making amends for his earlier error with a shot that went in after striking both posts to give Wolfsburg a half-time lead.
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Hertha enjoyed a wining double over Wolfsburg last season, and the capital side were sensing one more triumph when Rekik’s superb back-flick header looped in for the equaliser. Incredibly, the pendulum soon swung back in the favour of Martin Schmidt’s men with Divock Origi bundling the ball over the line with his chest following a corner. Then, just when it seemed the home side were on course for maximum returns, Selke scored at the second attempt to seal a valuable point for Pal Dardai's battling outfit.
Match stats
- Wolfsburg have now failed to win any of their past eight home games in the Bundesliga – a club record.Martin Schmidt is the first coach in Bundesliga history to have drawn his first seven games in charge.Vedad Ibisevic went 12 Bundesliga games without a goal before this game.The Wolves have only won one game this season - they have never before had so few wins after eleven games. However, they have never had as few as two defeats in that time either.Hertha have not won back-to-back games in the Bundesliga in 2017. Wolfsburg were one of only two sides they completed the double over last season – Darmstadt were the other.
Line-ups
Wolfsburg: Casteels – Verhaegh, Brooks, Knoche, Tisserand - Guilavogui, Arnold - Malli, Didavi - Origi (Blaszczykowski 82'), Gomez
Substitutes: Grün, Bazoer, Ntep, Gerhardt, Blaszczykowski (Origi 82'), Hinds, Itter
Absentees: Camacho (ankle), Jung (ankle)
Coach: Martin Schmidt
Hertha: Jarstein – Pekarik (Esswein 55'), Stark (Maier 28'), Rekik, Plattenhardt – Skjelbred, Langkamp – Weiser, Lazaro, Kalou (Selke 67') – Ibisevic (c)
Substitutes: Kraft, Esswein (Pekarik 55'), Duda, Mittelstädt, Torunarigha, Maier (Stark 28'), Selke (Kalou 67')
Absentees: Darida (knee), Leckie (thigh), Schieber (knee)
Coach: Pal Dardai
Origi: "We wanted all three points!"