Sunday 10th January 2021
Capitals in relegation battle
Hertha messes up at Bielefeld
The goal of Europe is a long way off: Hertha BSC has to take another defeat in the Bundesliga against newly promoted Arminia Bielefeld. At the Bielefelder Alm, the association has to do without a service provider. Now only a few points separate the "Big City Club" from the relegation place.
Hertha BSC is in the middle of the relegation battle after a serious mistake. The team of coach Bruno Labbadia, which started with European Cup ambitions, lost 1-0 in a largely underground Bundesliga game against promoted Arminia Bielefeld. In twelfth place, the Berliners only have a five point buffer on the relegation place, which Bielefeld left with the fourth win of the season. Reinhold Yabo scored the goal for Arminia in the 64th minute.
Labbadia had been looking forward to his return to the Alm. "It's a cozy, beautiful stadium. It could also be in England, a little jewelry box," he said. The former striker himself stormed for Arminia between 1998 and 2001, scoring 52 goals in 106 games. But it turned out to be an uncomfortable evening. Labbadia had to do without three players for a short time: Matheus Cunha was not available due to persistent problems in the groin area. In addition, Eduard Löwen and Marton Dardai were absent due to muscular problems, as the capital club announced before the game.
At temperatures just above freezing point, the initial phase was characterized by a lot of nickeliness and little game flow. Only Jhon Cordoba appeared twice in front of the goal of Arminia keeper Stefan Ortega. His degrees were safe. Hertha lacked ideas in the game forward, both teams neutralized each other. It was not until the 31st minute before Ortega was seriously tested by Dodi Lukebakio for the first time with a long-range shot.
Record breaking video evidence
So it took a contentious scene to get some momentum into the extremely weak encounter: The incoming Fabian Klos was brought down in the Berlin penalty area by a contact from Niklas Stark. Referee Guido Winkmann decided on a penalty – this was followed by record-breaking video evidence. After the Cologne basement had not come to a decision, Winkmann looked at the scene again and withdrew his decision after 4:13 minutes.
After the break, Yabo initially missed the huge chance to take the lead in Bielefeld after Omar Alderete kicked the ball that was flanked in. Bielefeld got better and partly pushed the Herthaners into their half. After a long throw-in, Yabo prevailed in a borderline duel against Stark and scored from the turn – Ritsu Doan missed the supposed preliminary decision in the 70th minute with a post shot.
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