2. Bundesliga: Hertha hold on to beat Magdeburg and maintain perfect start

Hertha BSC maintained their perfect start to the 2026/27 2. Bundesliga season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over FC Magdeburg at the Olympiastadion on Sunday afternoon.

Josip Brekalo gave the hosts an early lead before Falko Michel levelled for the visitors in the first half. However, Oluwaseun Adewumi restored Hertha’s advantage just two minutes after coming off the bench at half-time.

The Old Lady were forced to withstand significant pressure in the closing stages after Paul Seguin was sent off for a second bookable offence, while Magdeburg also finished the game with 10 men following Tobias Müller’s dismissal.

Hertha made an energetic start in front of their home supporters and quickly looked to put Magdeburg under pressure with an aggressive high press.

That approach almost paid off inside the opening six minutes when Sebastian Grønning was played in behind the Magdeburg defence, only for Tobias Müller to track back and deny the Danish forward as he prepared to shoot.

The hosts did not have to wait much longer for the breakthrough, though.

In the 10th minute, Hertha won possession and quickly transitioned forward. Mads Pedersen found Josip Brekalo on the left, with the Croatian cutting into the penalty area before firing a low left-footed effort into the far corner to give Hertha a 1-0 lead.

It was another important contribution from the captain Brekalo, who had already established himself as one of Hertha’s key attacking players during their impressive start to the campaign.

The hosts continued to look dangerous and almost doubled their advantage shortly afterwards. Grønning released Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson down the right, with the Icelandic winger cutting the ball back for Soufian Gouram. Gouram rounded goalkeeper Dominik Reimann but could not find a way past the Magdeburg defenders on the goal line.

Magdeburg gradually grew into the contest, however, and came close when Moritz-Broni Kwarteng fired a low effort narrowly wide from distance.

The visitors eventually found their equaliser in the 31st minute.

Barış Atik delivered a dangerous corner into the near-post area, where Falko Michel rose above Gouram to power a header beyond Marius Gersbeck and make it 1-1. It was Magdeburg’s first shot on target of the afternoon.

Hertha responded positively and nearly regained the lead before half-time. Thorsteinsson flicked a corner towards goal, but Reimann produced an excellent reaction save to keep the visitors level.

Neither side could find another breakthrough before the interval, leaving the game finely poised at 1-1.

Hertha made the perfect start to the second half, with Adewumi introduced at the break and making an immediate impact.

Just two minutes after coming on, the substitute restored Hertha’s lead. Paul Seguin spotted Thorsteinsson in space on the right, with the Iceland international sending a low ball across the face of goal. The pass evaded several players before reaching Adewumi at the far post, and the Austrian calmly slotted the ball home to make it 2-1.

The goal continued Adewumi’s impressive impact from the bench, with the Burnley loanee now having scored in each of his last three appearances as a substitute.

Magdeburg thought they had found an equaliser in the 56th minute when Kwarteng capitalised on a misplaced pass from Gersbeck before finishing after combining with Mateusz Zukowski.

However, the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review, allowing Hertha to retain their advantage and spare Gersbeck’s blushes. 

The game then took another dramatic turn when Hertha were reduced to 10 men in the 62nd minute. Seguin, already booked, brought down Zukowski in midfield and was shown a second yellow card.

Stefan Leitl reacted immediately by replacing Grønning with Pascal Klemens as Hertha looked to protect their lead.

Magdeburg began to dominate possession and came close to levelling again when a long-range effort from Michel took a major deflection and crashed against the crossbar.

The visistors then survived a huge scare when a corner found Kolbe unmarked at the back post. His header appeared destined for the net, only for Alexander Nollenberger to clear the ball off the line.

Despite playing with a numerical advantage, Magdeburg were then reduced to 10 players themselves in the 73rd minute. Tobias Müller picked up a second yellow card for a heavy challenge on Adewumi, leaving both sides with 10 men for the remainder of the contest.

The dismissal did little to change the momentum, with Magdeburg continuing to push for an equaliser.

Zukowski came close in the 82nd minute when he created space inside the area before firing a powerful effort towards goal, but Gersbeck produced an excellent save to deny the Magdeburg forward.

Hertha were increasingly forced to defend deep as the final whistle approached, although they still threatened on the counter. Thorsteinsson broke forward in the 86th minute and teed up Pascal Klemens, but the defender could not make clean contact with his attempt.

Magdeburg continued to search for a way through during five minutes of added time, but Hertha’s defence stood firm.

The final whistle eventually confirmed a 2-1 victory for the hosts, securing Hertha’s fourth consecutive win of the campaign.

Having already beaten VfL Bochum, Heidenheim and Eintracht Braunschweig, Stefan Leitl’s side have now taken a maximum 12 points from their opening four matches and sit alone at the top of the 2. Bundesliga table.

For Magdeburg, the defeat ends their own run of back-to-back victories, despite another competitive display against one of the division’s early frontrunners.