Hertha BSC are just one step away from a final in their own stadium, after the Bundesliga’s third-placed side beat second-division outfit FC Heidenheim 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup. The capital club last reached the round of four 35 years ago, with even their reserve team reaching the final since then, back in 1993.
In recent history, Berlin had often found lower-league sides such as Kiel, Stendal or Worms to be stumbling blocks, and they didn’t have a good start against underdogs Heidenheim either. Rune Jarstein was forced into a save by Bard Finne after nine minutes, and was then picking the ball out of his net 60 seconds later, as Marc Schnatterer’s corner was poked home by Arne Feick. Hertha weren’t fazed by the setback though and delivered a strong response through Vedad Ibisevic and Mitchell Weiser. A cross from Vladimir Darida was flicked on by Weiser towards the Bosnian, and he was able to turn the ball home after 14 minutes. Seven minutes later, a wonderful ball in from the Germany U21 international picked out Ibisevic, who reacted quicker than Matthias Wittek, volleying in at the near post to turn the game on its head.
Berlin dominate proceedings
With the lead in the bag, Berlin began to control the game, letting the ball and their opponents do the work. Weiser and Ibisevic linked up again after half an hour, but the two-time goalscorer couldn’t add to his tally. Heidenheim rallied to try and get back on level terms, but their only other chance of the first half was a Schnatterer free kick that went a whisker wide.
There was little change to the flow of the game in the second 45, with not much coming from the second-division hosts from open play. However, set pieces continued to carry a threat. Feick’s free kick from the left was directed towards goal by Kevin Kraus, and it required a block from Sebastian Langkamp to prevent the equaliser. Heidenheim were soon left rueing their missed chance, as Genki Haraguchi dribbled inside from the left flank and fired low past the FCH keeper to make it 3-1 shortly before the hour mark.
Schnatterer gives Heidenheim hope
The underdogs took some time to shake off the third goal, and almost found themselves further behind as Darida failed to get the ball under his spell when played through by Johannes van den Bergh. However, FCH eventually managed to get a foothold back in the game when Weiser brought down Robert Leipertz in the box and referee Deniz Aytekin pointed to the spot. Marc Schnatterer stepped up to take the resulting penalty and found the bottom corner, but it was too little, too late from Heidenheim.
Hertha BSC are therefore the third side to reach the semi-finals after Werder Bremen (3-1 vs. Leverkusen) and Borussia Dortmund (3-1 vs. Stuttgart). The final place in the last four will be decided in the late kick-off, when VfL Bochum host FC Bayern München.