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Berlin (AP) - In the fight against relegation from the Bundesliga, Hertha BSC has at least fought a point in the explosive Berlin city derby at 1. FC Union.
Really much use the team of coach Pal Dardai but the hard-fought 1-1 (1-1) on Sunday not to move away from the dangerous zone at the bottom of the table.
After the 27th matchday, Hertha is 14th with 25 points, only two points ahead of the relegation ranks and still has to improve significantly to stay in the league.
Although Hertha can now call themselves city champions after the 3-1 win in the first half of the season and the draw, the "Iron" will probably end up clearly ahead of their local rivals in the table.
Coach Urs Fischer's team is seventh with 39 points on their account and continues to have a good chance of qualifying for the European Cup.
Robert Andrich (10th minute) scored for the hosts in Köpenick, Dodi Lukebakio (35./foul penalty) was successful for Hertha.
Even without fans, there was a deafening noise in the An der Alten Försterei stadium at the beginning.
For around three minutes after kick-off, countless rockets and other pyrotechnics were detonated outside the arena.
A small fire broke out on the roof of a sales stand.
Regardless of this, the game went on without a break - and the «Iron» deservedly took the lead early.
Andrich, who was once active in the Hertha youth team for many years, overcame goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow with his shot from around 20 meters.
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The 28-year-old was used for the first time in the league under Dardai because the Norwegian goalkeeper Rune Jarstein is temporarily in quarantine after a positive coronavirus test.
Hertha had a hard time without the veteran and was initially unable to build on the 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen, while Union almost scored the second goal early on.
The hosts acted aggressively as usual and left the West Berliners with their physical style of play only little room to develop.
Nevertheless, Hertha got a deserved equalizer with a certainly converted penalty before the break.
Marvin Friedrich had brought down the French Mattéo Guendouzi in the penalty area.
The 21-year-old was very lucky to still be on the lawn at this point.
A few minutes earlier, Guendouzi had a wild duel with Grischa Prömel right in front of the Union Bank.
This could very well have led to a dismissal.
In the second half, both teams watched each other without becoming really dangerous and without setting highlights.
While Hertha was again too passive not only in the initial phase, Union, which had only lost at home earlier this season, was no longer able to play its own offensive game as successfully as usual.
A lot of nicknames led to interruptions and often prevented the game from flowing properly.
In the 79th minute, ex-world champion Sami Khedira was substituted on on his 34th birthday at Hertha after recovering from a calf injury, but could not do anything.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210404-99-84660 / 2
Details about the game on bundesliga.de
Squad Hertha BSC
Squad 1. FC Union Berlin