Hertha recorded their third straight game since the winter break, pushing themselves 5 points clear at the top. On Sunday afternoon, the capital city kickers beat Arminia Bielefed 3-1, in a round 20 division two clash in front of 20,017 at the Schüco-Arena. The victory was well-deserved and the Hertha goals were scored by the Brazilian brothers Ronny and Raffael, affectionately described as the 'Chuckle Brothers' over here in England. The win keeps Hertha on top of the second division table, five points and a place in front of FC Augsburg.
Hertha coach Markus Babbel was without his best striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga, who sustained a knee injury during the 4-2 home win over Fortuna Düsseldorf last time out. His place in the side went to Canadian giant striker Rob Friend, often described as 'having a great touch for a big man'. Fabian Lustenberger replaced Fanol Perdedaj in front of the back four, playing the 'Makelele role', where captain Andre Mijatovic returned from suspension, for what was his first game of the new year. The Croatian stalwart was sent off against FC Augsburg before the winter break and was given a three match ban.
Hertha took 2000 fans over to Bielefeld, not only dominating proceedings vocally, but also on the pitch. The visitors dominated proceedings at the Schüco-Arena. Hertha threatened for the first time after 10 minutes, as Friend narrowly missed connecting with a fine cross by Christian Lell, sadly the big mans famous touch was missing, early reports suggest he left it in Berlin. Shortly afterwards, Berlin stopper Maikel Aerts needed two attempts to deal with a low shot at the other end, proving what a good keeper he really is.
With 15 minutes on the clock gone, Adrian Ramos rounded the home keeper Eilhoff and fell inside the area. The whistle of match referee Hartmann however remained silent. Crys of 'gutless ref' and 'bottle job' were heard from, the computer room as the game played out, on some dodgy live stream internet feed. Three minutes later though, Eilhoff was powerless as Ronny produced some samba magic in the freezing conditions to warm the hearts of the huge contingent of travelling Hertha fans. The Brazilian made a determined run which ended with a low shot between the legs of Eilhoff (NUTS!!) and into the net. 1-0 to the division two leaders! Moments later his brother Raffael almost got in on the act too, but he aimed his shot too high, imitating the great Johnny Wilkinson.
Six minutes before the break Hertha doubled their lead, as Raffael let fly with a superb low shot from the edge of the area, leaving Eilhoff groping at air, like a fish out of water. Aussie-ace Nikita Rukavytsya then missed a gilt-edged chance to score a third goal, coming off worse in a one on one situation with Eilhoff. Hertha led 2-0 at the break.
Bielefeld coach Ewald Lienen brought on the former Hertha star Christian Müller at the start of the second half, but that didn't have much effect on the game at first. Hertha remained in charge and created further chances on the break. On 57 minutes though, Hertha's Hubnik was forced to risk his all in a last ditch challenge on Uzoma. Three minutes after that Aerts produced an excellent save to deny Müller. The home side began to dominate the game and further goals seemed to be in the air.
Then it was Hertha's turn again! Rob Friend fed substitute Valeri Domovchiyski who cleverly allowed the ball to continue on its path to unmarked Raffael, who rounded Eilhoff before sliding the ball home for his second goal of the game and Hertha's third on 76 minutes. It was game over from that point in time, even with Tadic's late consolation on 85 minutes, Hertha's victory was never in doubt.
Match details:
Arminia Bielefeld: Eilhoff - Kaiser, Appiah, Schuler, Toure- Heidinger (46. Quaner), Uzoma, Demme (46. Müller) - Ivanov, Vidosic - Tadic
Hertha BSC: Aerts- Lell, Mijatovic, Hubnik, Kobiashvili - Lustenberger (68. Perdedaj) - Rukavytsya (73. Domovchiyski), Raffael, Ronny - Ramos (88. Djuricin), Friend
Goals: Ronny (18.), Raffael (39,76), Tadic (85.)
Att: 20.017
Referee: Robert Hartmann
Booked: Mijatovic
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