First a lot of tennis balls, then three goals and an HSV that jumped into a promotion place: A break of more than half an hour due to protests against the German Football League’s investor plans overshadowed Hamburger SV’s victory in the top second division game at Hertha BSC.
The game, which ended 2-1 (0-0) for HSV in the Olympic Stadium, was about to be abandoned when countless tennis balls were thrown onto the field.
“There were more and more balls coming from one side and the other. We tried to wait. We tried to influence the players and the coach. At some point we had to draw conclusions,” explained referee Daniel Schlager on Sport1 and added: ” No referee wants a game to be stopped because of this. Theoretically it would have been possible.” If there had been another interruption, Schlager would no longer have had a choice.
Hertha missed out on the promotion battle
HSV defied the pressure on head coach Tim Walter and jumped back to a promotion position. “It’s a nice snapshot. But it’s important for us to get into the flow and start a series,” said Walter on the TV channel Sky. “My team did very well, was very focused and deserved to win in the end. I think we were the more active team. My team was very ripped off.”
Hertha, however, remains out of the promotion race, nine points behind relegation third place. For the Berliners, for whom the sudden death of club boss Kay Bernstein two weeks ago is still having an impact, it was the next setback after the cup exit on Wednesday.
From the 53rd minute onwards, tennis balls kept flying onto the field from the Hertha corner. Appeals from Hertha coach Pal Dardai and the stadium announcer initially had no effect. After the game had been interrupted for around 20 minutes, referee Schlager sent the players off the field. Dardai said he had “a bit of a feeling” that there could be a cancellation: “I spoke to the fans and they didn’t want that either. They kept their word.”
Game is picking up speed
They returned after the throws were over and the game clock was reset to 52:30 minutes. The Hertha fans had recently rolled up their banner with the inscription “Finally stop investor madness, whether in the DFL or in the clubs”.
After the restart, HSV, who were clearly the better team in the first half, took the lead with an easy long-range shot from Miro Muheim (57th).
Shortly afterwards, HSV keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes was only able to parry a shot from Hertha’s key player Fabian Reese, who came on as a substitute. Tabakovic won (62′). Ludovit Reis, who had just come into the game, headed the guests to victory in the final phase (83′).
