DFB-Pokal: Brekalo inspires Hertha to avoid cupset in Jeddeloh

Hertha BSC avoided a cup upset with two second-half goals against Jeddeloh II in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.

There were no attempts at either end until Mads Pedersen's effort from range twenty minutes before the half-time break. The 2. Bundesliga side continued on that momentum in search of their opening goal against the team from the small village.

The Regionalliga North outfit managed to keep the side from the capital city scoreless in the first-half as Fynn Friedrichs saved them from the goalline to deny Linus Gechter. With the last chance of the half, Farida Alfa-Ruprecht hit the post in his first start of the season.

Hertha hoped to play with the same wavelength after the restart, but the hosts created their first chance when Moritz Brinkmann failed to hit the target from a very promising position. That proved costly as Hertha scored twice in the next ten minutes.

First, the captain Josip Brekalo continued his excellent form with the opening goal of the night. Alfa-Ruprecht provided the assist, and he should've had his second almost immediately if it wasn't for Sebastian Grönning's poor finishing.

The former Manchester City youngster was substituted off after that, but Hertha sealed the win with his replacement Oluwaseun Adewumi assisting Julian Eitschberger's brilliant strike. Despite their struggles in fourth-tier, Jeddeloh managed to keep the scoreline respectable against 2. Bundesliga runaway leaders.

Hertha will face fellow promotion hopefuls Kaiserslautern and Wolfsburg before the international break, while Jeddeloh II continue their fight to get out of the relegation zone in Regionalliga North.