Hertha Berlin score a late winner to snatch victory over relegation Schalke by six points

Wilfried Kanga struck in the dying minutes to give Hertha Berlin a first home win of the season and condemned Schalke to bottom in the Bundesliga table.

Hertha BSC 2-1 Schalke
Goal: 1-0 Tousart 49′, 1-1 Calf 85′ (assist: Polter), 2-1 Kanga 88′ (assist: jovetic)

Fallen to the bottom of table when this game started in Berlin, Schalke – in their first game since the dismissal of head coach Frank Kramer – were even more under pressure in this relegation six points against 15th place Hertha. Nevertheless, both teams played with freedom in the early stages, with three attempts on goal each in the first 14 minutes. The seventh and best of the lot looked to have given the Royal Blues the lead as Marius Bülter volleyed with the inside of his right boot into the top corner. However, the potential Goal of the Month contender was ruled out in the review due to an offside in the build-up. The former Union Berlin striker had the ball in the net again after a save from Oliver Christensen, but this time it was a foul in the previous game that saw it count for nothing. Things calmed down after that, with the Berliners seeing more of the ball until the break but Schalke having more moments in attack.

Yet he was not left without a goal at the Olympiastadion long after the restart as Lucas Tousart hung on a clearance and fired from 20 yards as Schalke Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow failed. managed to get enough behind the shot. Aware of the urgency of their situation, Die Knappen tried to pick up the pace and force an equalizer. It finally happened with just six minutes to play as Florent Mollet headed inside the near post. However, the joy was short-lived as Kanga was played with just minutes to put the Berliners back in front. Just a second win of the season and the first at home since April puts Hertha in 13th place in the table. Schalke’s seventh defeat of the campaign – combined with Victory of Bochum over Union earlier today – sees them slipping to the foot of the table after 11 rounds of matches.

Look: Kanga: “They never stopped trusting me”

Match statistics

• Tousart netted his second goal of the season, double his tally for the entire 2021/22 season.
• But no one has been beaten by more shots from outside the box than Schalke’s Hertha keeper Schwolow (four goals conceded).
• Kanga netted his first Bundesliga goal with his 19th shot, and fifth in that game.
• Schalke had gone 292 minutes without scoring in the Bundesliga before Mollet struck here.
• Mollet is the 275th different player to score for Schalke in the Bundesliga. No other team has so many scorers in league history.
• The Royal Blues have now won none of their last 34 away games in the Bundesliga – one shy of the all-time record (35 by Karlsruhe).

Look: Christensen praises striker Kanga

Teams

Herta: Christensen – Kenny, Rogel, Kempf, Plattenhardt (c) – Tousart, Serdar (Sunjic 73′) – Lukebakio (Dardai 90’+1), Jovetic (Boetius 90’+1), Ejuke (Richter 46′) – Kanga (Selke 90’+6)
Unused subtitles: Ernst, Pekarik, Mittelstädt, Maolida
Out: Boateng (sick), Gechter (fitness), Jarstein (not taken into account), Ngankam (fitness), Nsona (cruciate ligament), Uremovic (ankle)
Coach: Sandro Schwarz

Schalke: Schwolow – Brunner, Yoshida, Matriciani – Aydin (Karaman 73′), Kral, Krauss (Latza 59′), Ouwejan – Drexler (Calf 59′), Terodde (c), Bülter
Unused subtitles: Fährmann, Larsson, Kolodziejczak, Flick, Mohr, Polter
Out: Cisse (muscular), Greiml (meniscus), Kaminski (calf), van den Berg (ankle), Zalazar (metatarsus)
Coach: Matthias Kreutzer

Look: Kral: “Need to bounce back very quickly”