Cologne surprises Hoffenheim
Hertha and Bochum suffer severe defeats
4/22/2023, 5:28 p.m
Pal Dardai returns to Hertha BSC as a coach and experiences a game to forget. His Berliners wake up far too late against Werder Bremen. Things are even worse for relegation competitor VfL Bochum. The team goes down against Wolfsburg in their own stadium.
Hertha BSC – Werder Bremen
New coach, old worries: Hertha BSC is inexorably staggering towards relegation from the Bundesliga, even under the returnee Pal Dardai. The Berliners lost 4-2 (0-2) against Werder Bremen on Saturday in the sold-out Olympic Stadium and got stuck at the bottom of the table. The rescue mission for Dardai in his third term at Hertha is becoming more and more hopeless with five games left. Attacker Marvin Ducksch (6th/27th/51st) decided the game in the absence of national striker Niclas Füllkrug (calf problems) with a furious hat-trick single-handedly for Bremen, who were accompanied by around 25,000 supporters to the capital and themselves in the best spring weather with the first success since the end of February freed from the worst fears of relegation. Mitchell Weiser (61st) increased for Werder, Jessic Ngankam (68th) and Dodi Lukebakio (79th, penalty kick) made cosmetic results for Hertha.
The Berliners, who parted ways with Sandro Schwarz six days ago and have now been without a win for seven games, are more at risk than ever of falling into second division for the first time in eleven years. The gap to the relegation place is three points. “If I have one request, it would be to take the lead in front of 70,000 spectators,” Dardai said before the game – but the Hungarian’s wish was shattered in the sixth minute. After Lucas Tousart lost the ball, Jens Stage cleverly put the ball through to Ducksch, who pushed in ice cold for an early lead.
The Hertha tried to react to the early neck blow, but remained too imprecise in the last third of the attack. Werder was the more active team – and struck again in the person of Ducksch. Christian Groß crossed from the right and found the 29-year-old attacker, who headed into the far corner. And Werder stayed on, Maximilian Philipp shot wide of the far post (29′), coach’s son Marton Dardai put his own keeper Oliver Christensen under pressure (30′) – the great uncertainty was evident in the hosts. Ducksch missed the hat trick from close range just before the break (41st).
“Finally tear yourselves apart for Hertha BSC”, the fans had demanded on a banner before the game – but the hoped-for turnaround did not materialize even after the change of sides. Dardai brought on Agustin Rogel, Suat Serdar and Kevin-Prince Boateng, but the headlines continued to belong to Ducksch. The striker made the decision after a cross from Anthony Jung – his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga. Weiser even went one better, goals from Ngankam and Lukebakio brought back a little hope for Berlin.
VfL Bochum – VfL Wolfsburg 1: 5 (0: 3)
In the final sprint to stay up, VfL Bochum is in danger of running out of breath. The Westphalians lost 1:5 (0:3) to VfL Wolfsburg and, after four games in a row without a win, are again deep in the relegation battle. In the decisive phase of the season, Bochum lost its home strength: After five wins in a row, VfL lost four of the last five games in the Ruhr Stadium.
The efficiently countering Wolfsburg, on the other hand, can dream of Europe again. After only one defeat in the last eight games, sixth place in the table is very close again. Mattias Svanberg (10th/56th), Jakub Kaminski (21st), Patrick Wimmer (33rd) and Luca Waldschmidt via rebound after a missed penalty by Jonas Wind (77th) scored the goals for Lower Saxony, who won their first away win in Bochum since 2006. Bochum’s defense with goalkeeper Manuel Riemann actively helped with the goals conceded. Substitute Moritz Broschinski (68th) only managed the consolation goal.
Bochum coach Thomas Letsch was able to fall back on captain Anthony Losilla after a yellow card suspension, Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac had to do without Paulo Otavio, who suffered a syndesmosis in the 0-0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen. The hosts once again relied on their proven recipe: long, high balls, especially to center forward Philipp Hofmann, who was supposed to lay off for his offensive colleagues. The first chance arose from such an action – after a long shot by Danilo Soares, Simon Zoller failed at goalkeeper Koen Casteels (7th). The wolves, on the other hand, tried fast ball passages – and were successful: Svanberg converted a cross from Wimmer to the opening goal.
It continued at high speed: Iwan Ordez narrowly missed the Wolfsburg goal with a header (13′). The guests countered ice cold: Wimmer prevailed on the middle line against two Bochum players, Felix Nmecha passed on to Kaminski, who didn’t give keeper Riemann a chance. Hofmann was unlucky on the other side, who only hit the post (25th). Wolfsburg made it 3-0 before the break – with a bit of luck. When the outstanding Wimmer couldn’t find a pass, he simply took aim, deflected by Patrick Osterhage and the ball landed in the net. Bochum was now completely off the roll, the spectators reacted indignantly to the increasing number of mistakes. But when it came to the second half, 22,000 VfL fans cheered their team loudly again. Bochum pushed for the first goal – but after the 0:4 the air was finally gone.
1899 Hoffenheim – 1. FC Cologne 1: 3 (0: 2)
Ironically, TSG Hoffenheim missed the preliminary decision in the relegation battle against their previous favorite opponent. The Kraichgauer lost 1:3 (0:2) against the strong 1. FC Köln and have to worry about staying up in the league again. Florian Kainz (18th) with a hand penalty, Davie Selke (39th) and Jan Thielmann (90th + 2) scored for the Cologne team, who, after 13 league games without a win, were able to win against the Kraichgauer again for the first time since April 2015. Kasper Dolberg (90+4) scored the consolation goal for the hosts. With the three, FC increased their lead over Hoffenheim to six points. After the strong intermediate spurt with 10 points from four games, TSG suffered a severe setback.
Shortly before kick-off, both teams had to adjust to a change in the referee team. The only 27-year-old Robin Braun (Wuppertal) made his first appearance in the Bundesliga as a referee. Braun, who was actually intended to be the 4th official, had to replace Benjamin Brand (Unterspiesheim), who had suffered an allergic reaction.
The 30,150 spectators in the sold-out Sinsheimer Arena, including around 7,000 FC fans, saw an entertaining game at high speed in the first few minutes. Kainz caused danger for the first time with a shot in the 11th minute. After that it became difficult for referee Braun. Only after studying the video did he rightly decide to give Cologne a penalty. TSG defense chief John Anthony Brooks had blocked a shot by Linton Maina with his hand. Kainz converted confidently.
Even after the goal, the guests remained the more dangerous side in a game of extremely high intensity. Selke failed with a header to Oliver Baumann (32′), shortly afterwards the striker overcame the TSG goalkeeper – who, like defender Kevin Akpoguma, did not cut a good figure. At the beginning of the second half, the hosts pushed for the connection. Angelinho fired a first warning shot (48′), Ihlas Bebou missed in a promising position (50′). In the 57th minute, Andrej Kramaric was also unable to execute, the same applied to Christoph Baumgartner (61st). After the Cologne side had survived this phase, they controlled the game again from the 65th minute. Substitute Steffen Tigges missed the preliminary decision (74th). Thielmann then made everything clear.