2. Bundesliga: Bochum’s Morgalla further dents Hertha’s promotion hopes

Following a nervy start, Josip Brekalo had Hertha’s first real chance in the 25th minute. On his 29th birthday, Dawid Kownacki missed finding the target from about eight meters, five minutes later.

However, the Polish striker did score in a special day for him to put the hosts deservedly ahead at the break. He was fouled by Noah Loosli inside the box, and took the responsibility himself in the absence of the suspended Fabian Reese, who nervously watched the penalty-kick from the stands.

Uwe Rösler, who has only lost twice since taking over from Dieter Hecking, made a couple of substitutions for the second-half. Hertha had another shout for a penalty early after the restart, but the referee decided the contact wasn’t enough for Jeremy Dudziak to lose his balance.

Michaël Cuisance captained Hertha for the first time, but he saw his fifth yellow card in the hour mark for taking a free-kick before the referee’s whistle. The former Bayern Munich prodigy will be suspended for next week’s game against Fortuna Düsseldorf, while Reese returns to the side.  

There were half-chances at either end in the last twenty minutes before a dramatic ending to the game. Cuisance was lucky to avoid a second booking five minutes from time, while Tjark Ernst also went unpunished for an unconvincing piece of goalkeeping.

Julian Eitschberger would then make a brilliant block in his first touch after coming on as a substitute, but the resulting corner-kick earned Bochum an unlikely point. Half-time substitute Leandro Morgalla scored with an improvised finish for his first goal for Bochum.

The capital city club missed out on a chance to close the gap with the promotion playoff spot to just five points. As for Bochum, they will remain in ninth place after a battling performance away from home.