VfL Bochum left the direct relegation zone for the first time in five months and increased concern about staying in the class at Hertha BSC.

With the surprisingly sovereign 3:1 (2:0) in the basement duel, the team of coach Thomas Letsch passed the Berliners in the table.

Thanks to the goals of Philipp Hofmann (22nd/56th) and newcomer Keven Schotterbeck (44th) in front of 26,000 spectators in the sold-out Vonovia Ruhrstadion, Bochum continued the upward trend that began before the long winter break.

They celebrated the fourth Bundesliga home win in a row.

This was last achieved in 1997.

On the other hand, the guests had to accept a fall to the second last place in the Bundesliga when the Bundesliga restarted.

In the first defeat in Bochum after 14 years, the team presented itself in questionable form.

The late goal from Suat Serdar (87th) could not change this impression.

Without their suspended top scorer Dodi Lukebakio, who had scored seven of 19 goals so far, and the injured new signing Florian Niederlechner, the Berliners could hardly get into the game.

It was only with a lot of luck that they escaped an earlier deficit when Philipp Förster (5th) narrowly missed the goal with a drop kick from close range.

The alleged Hertha goal by Lucas Tousart (11th), which referee Martin Petersen took back after the intervention of the video assistant because the ball was previously out of goal, gave the guests little impetus.

Stöger only hits the bar

On the other hand, Bochum used their first attack, which was really worth seeing, to take the lead.

The Förster played by Kevin Stöger on the left served Hofmann with an exemplary cross, which the center forward refined with a header without much resistance from two Berlin defenders.

Only then did the Berliners increase their resistance, but struggled against Bochum's passionate fighting game.

That's why the Letsch team was closer to another goal than the opponent to equalization.

The strong Stöger (34th) hit the bar with a free kick from 18 meters.

But shortly before half-time, the hosts rewarded themselves again for their great effort.

In his first game for his club, Schlotterbeck, who was loaned out from SC Freiburg in the winter, scored a header after a corner from Förster to make it 2-0.

After the restart, Hertha BSC initially pushed for the goal, but were caught cold when they countered.

The fast Christoper Antwi-Adjei sped past his opponents and served Hofmann in the middle.

His shot was unluckily deflected by Maximilian Mittelstädt and fell over Hertha keeper Oliver Christensen into the net.

The game was decided early on.

For a long time in the final phase, VfL had little trouble maintaining the lead over time.

After a header from Jessic Ngankam (77th) on the crossbar, the previously harmless Berliners regained hope, but the 1: 3 by substitute Serdar came too late.