Leipzig had the chance to move into second spot ahead of Borussia Dortmund, but Ademola Lookman’s clumsy challenge on Matheus Cunha put an end to that. They stay third on 55 points, two behind Dortmund and nine behind the leaders Bayern. Hertha move into tenth, on 35 points, for a couple of hours at least. They’ll be slightly irritated that they failed to put away ten men, but it’s a point they’d have taken at the start of play, and further proof that Bruno Labbadia might stick around a while longer than his predecessors. Thanks for reading this MBM; nighty night!
FULL TIME: Leipzig 2-2 Hertha Berlin
Just enough time for Cunha to pick up a booking for not very much, and that’s it. A draw seems about right.
90 min +3: Upamecano is down, winded. The physio will be pretty knackered too.
90 min +2: Cunha has a pop from 25 yards. The ball takes a huge deflection and is heading for the top right, but Gulacsi reacts excellently to gather.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
88 min: Lookman bustles his way down the inside-left channel and into the Hertha box. He’s about to shoot when Torunarigha toe-pokes it away. Lookman is first to the loose ball, and lays back for Angelino, who blooters a witless cross harmlessly out of play. For a second, Lookman was in, and hoping to right the wrong of the penalty. But not quite.
87 min: Hertha pass and probe, probe and pass. Eventually Cunha gets bored and drags a shot wide left from 20 yards. Gulacsi had it covered anyway.
85 min: Once the game starts again, Mittelstadt and Piatek combine smartly down the left and nearly open Leipzig up. But Piatek runs the ball out for a goal kick. Leipzig are suddenly hanging on.
83 min: The match is yet to restart, because there’s something wrong with the referee’s electric gubbins. Wires are being tweaked.
GOAL! Leipzig 2-2 Hertha Berlin (Piatek 82 pen)
Piatek performs one of those ludicrous tippy-toe shuffles as he approaches the spot, but to be fair dispatches the penalty into the bottom left with great poise and purpose.
81 min: PENALTY FOR HERTHA! Cunha dribbles in from the right, and is brought down clumsily by Lookman, who hung out a needless leg.
80 min: In between that rugby-union-style slew of substitutions, Dilrosun worked his way down the left and forced Gulacsi to tip a dangerous shot-cum-cross over his crossbar. Nothing came of the corner.
79 min: And now a double change for Leipzig, as Werner and Schick are replaced up front by Wolf and Orban.
78 min: Ngankam and Maier come on for Skjelbred and Ibisevic.
77 min: Upamecano beckenbauers his way down the middle. He slips a pass to Adams on his right. Adams has plenty of time but his low cross is easily dealt with by Torunarigha.
75 min: A little bit of treatment for both players. After a while, they’re good to go again.
73 min: Cunha jinks delicately down the inside-left channel and nearly bursts clear in the box. But just as he shapes to shoot, Angelino comes in hard but fair. In fact it ends up as a free kick to Leipzig, Cunha having overrun the ball and lunged.
71 min: Hertha make a double change, switching Lukebakio and Darida for Dilrosun and Piatek.
69 min: There’s a case for giving that as an own goal, you know. Schick’s shot was on target, but Jarstein had saved it, then swiped it into the net with a separate motion.
GOAL! Leipzig 2-1 Hertha Berlin (Schick 67)
Schick, just to the left of the D, takes a whack towards the bottom right. Jarstein saves, but the ball squirts through his hands. As he desperately grasps for it, he only succeeds in pushing it into the bottom right. Oh dear oh dear oh dear, that was a howler.
66 min: Angelino comes on for Nkunku.
65 min: Cunha slides recklessly towards Lookman, and is fortunate to miss the player altogether. Both sets of studs were showing there. Not a good challenge, but the referee decides that a bollocking will suffice.
RED CARD! Halstenberg (Leipzig)
63 min: A second yellow for Halstenberg, who brings down an in-flight Cunha in the no-nonsense style. He can have no complaints, especially as he studded the same player before the break.
62 min: He’s back up and good to go.
61 min: Now Mittelstadt is down receiving treatment. Constant carnage.
59 min: Lookman’s quickly into the action, spinning away down the inside right and nearly bursting clear into the Hertha box. It’s a decent run until the ball gets under his feet and he’s forced to check.
58 min: Former Charlton and Everton winger Ademola Lookman comes on for Olmo.
57 min: Tornuarigha is booked for going into a challenge on Nkunku with a high foot. The resulting free kick is a complete waste of everyone’s time.
56 min: Darida has a belt from the best part of 30 yards. Top marks for ambition, if nothing else.
55 min: Olmo is this close to releasing Werner free down the middle, but the ball clips the striker’s heel. Leipzig come again, Werner racing down the right and hooking into the centre, where Schick attempts an overly ambitious overhead kick. It’s an easy gather for Jarstein.
53 min: Hertha are on the front foot here, snapping away at a ponderous Leipzig. They win a couple of corners. Leipzig eventually clear, but only after a struggle. The hosts need to raise their game.
52 min: Ibisevic has an opportunity to spring Lukebakio clear down the inside right, but can’t thread the ball through a big gap in the Leipzig defence.
50 min: Mittelstadt has a whack from distance. Despite having plenty of time and space, he sends it well wide right. A better chance than he made it look.
48 min: Sabitzer finds Adams in a bit of space down the right. Adams enters the box and drags a weak shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick. There was a tap-in on offer there, but nobody was following in.
Updated
47 min: All very scrappy since the restart.
Here we go again! Leipzig get the second half underway ... eventually. Hertha took an absolute age to come back out.
While you wait for the second half ... why not try our marvellous new podcast?
HALF TIME: Leipzig 1-1 Hertha Berlin
And that’s the end of an eventful half. As things stand, third-placed Leipzig will be dropping another couple of points at home. They’re making a habit of this, and it’s why they’re not on Bayern Munich’s shoulder.
45 min +4: Halstenberg is booked for standing on his former team-mate Cunha’s foot. Maybe he studded a bit of shin too. That looked pretty nasty, he’s lucky the referee didn’t consider that a dangerous challenge. You’ve seen reds given for that sort of thing before.
45 min +3: Skjelbred handles Werner’s flick round the corner, just to the right of the Hertha box. Halstenberg takes, going direct towards the bottom right. It’s no good, easy for Jarstein.
45 min +2: Neither team is making much use of this extra time.
45 min: There will be four added minutes. No wonder, given the amount of stoppages we’ve had.
44 min: Olmo nearly releases Werner with a sliderule pass down the right channel, but Jarstein races from his box to hoick clear, just in time.
42 min: Pekarik is booked for a Ramos-on-Salah yank at Nkunku’s arm. That was poor form, and Nkunku is fortunate he didn’t land as awkwardly as the Liverpool man did in the 2018 Champions League final.
40 min: Cunha and Lukebakio combine crisply down the right, the latter whipping low and hard towards Ibisevic. The veteran striker leans back and blazes over. What a chance that was! He should have hit the target at the very least. He really should have scored.
39 min: Olmo and Skjelbred bash into each other out on the left. More work for the overworked physios, and another free kick. The set piece leads to a corner out on the left. From that, Boyata rises highest and aims for the top left. It’s high and wide. It was a good chance.
37 min: Sabitzer takes. He whips towards the top left. The ball takes a deflection off Grujic in the wall, and nearly ends up in the top corner. But it’s wide. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
35 min: Laimer is brough clattering down by a combination of Skjelbred and Boyata. It’ll be a free kick just to the left of the Hertha D. That’ll come in a couple of minutes, because Laimer is receiving treatment having hurt his shoulder. Everyone’s in a right old state today.
34 min: Skjelbred presses a backtracking Sabitzer, who ends up screwing a strange panicked lob over Gulacsi and nearly into his own net. The ball drifts just wide left. Very strange. Nothing much comes of the resulting corner.
32 min: Lukebakio tears down the right but slips just as he’s preparing to skip past Laimer. Then Werner has a look down the Leipzig right, but can’t find anyone in the middle. It’s good end-to-end fun, this.
31 min: Now Grujic is down, having taken a whack in the grid. I hope the Hertha physio is on piece work. He’ll be coining it in.
29 min: Sabitzer should set Werner free down the inside-right, having picked off a dismal pass by Boyata. But the ball flies behind Werner and out for a goal kick. That was a great chance to send his team-mate clean through on goal.
28 min: Leipzig started so terribly slowly, but they’re full of belief now. Adams storms down the right and earns a throw. From that, Werner scampers into the box but he’s penalised for a saucy shove in Torunarigha’s back.
26 min: Another corner for Leipzig on the right. The ball clatters Torunarigha in the face, and he’s forced to go off temporarily to stem a nose bleed. Poor Hertha really have been in the wars.
GOAL! Leipzig 1-1 Hertha Berlin (Klostermann 24)
Anything Hertha can do ... Nkunku curls the corner across the face of goal, and Klostermann guides a clever header across Jarstein, to the keeper’s left and in. Two beautiful goals of great simplicity.
24 min: Leipzig’s first corner of the game, earned by Adams out on the right. From which ...
23 min: Darida stumbled off looking quite dazed, but he seems to have recovered his poise and is back on.
21 min: Another corner for Hertha, this time out on the right. They ping it around, then Darida and Olmo suffer a clash of heads. Darida looks particularly shaky. Hertha are having no luck.
19 min: Leipzig waste it pitifully. Nkunku clumps the free kick to his right, taking Adams by surprise. Adams clips a pass down the inside-right channel to ... nobody in particular. Very poor. Another goal kick.
18 min: Leipzig ping and probe. Eventually Werner is clipped from behind by Torunarigha, and it’s a free kick, 25 yards out in a central position.
17 min: Upamecano quarterbacks from deep, and nearly releases Adams down the right. Not quite. Too much on the pass, and it’s a goal kick. Jarstein hasn’t been put to meaningful work yet.
15 min: Cunha skates down the left at great speed. It’s a powerful run and he finds Lukebakio on the other flank with a raking crossfield pass. Lukebakio is entitled to stride into the box and take a shot - he’s got space and time - but instead lays back for Darida, who slams a fierce shot wide right. Had that been on target, Gulacsi was never getting to it, and it’d be 2-0. Leipzig need to wake up quickly.
13 min: Nkunku swings a free kick into the Hertha box from the left. It’s easy pickings for Jarstein.
12 min: Leipzig have drawn three of their last four at home. Are they beginning to develop a complex?
11 min: That’s Plattenhardt’s last contribution. He’s not recovered from that knock to the head, and he’s replaced by Mittelstadt.
GOAL! Leipzig 0-1 Hertha Berlin (Grujic 9)
Plattenhardt whips the corner into the mixer. Grujic, on loan from Liverpool, scores his fourth goal of the season by opening up his body and guiding a powerful shot to the right of a helpless Gulacsi. Simple as that! A fine delivery, and a finish to match.
9 min: Space for Lukebakio down the Hertha right. He loops long, forcing Klostermann to head out for the first corner of the game. From which ...
8 min: Leipzig are beginning to stroke it around nicely, and at speed too. After some crisp triangles, Werner tries to release Adams down the left but his pass has too much juice. Goal kick.
7 min: Laimer takes the first shot in anger, a powerful sidefoot towards the bottom right from 20 yards. It’s gathered well by Jarstein.
6 min: Plattenhardt goes down, having clashed heads with Adams. A pause as the pair receive treatment. Both look good to continue. This hasn’t got going yet. Plenty of time, of course.
4 min: Some space for Werner down the middle, sent on a determined run by Schick’s flick. But he’s hauled back for handling.
3 min: Boyata whacks Werner in the mush. It’s a free kick, but clearly accidental. Not too much going on at the minute.
2 min: There’s been a late change to the Leipzig line-up. Kevin Kampl pulled something in the warm-up, and he’s been replaced by Tyler Adams.
And we’re off! The visitors get the ball rolling.
Here come the teams. Leipzig wear their first-choice white shirts and red shorts, while Hertha are in second-choice black and red halves. A moment’s silent reflection for those who have lost their lives to Covid-19. We’ll be off in a minute.
History is very much on Leipzig’s side today. They won the reverse fixture 4-2 in November, their sixth win in seven Bundesliga meetings. They won this fixture 5-0 last March, and have chalked up 26 goals against Hertha, conceding just seven. But Hertha have won at the Red Bull Arena in the past, 3-2 in December 2017, a victory achieved despite playing with ten men for 83 minutes. Things usually happen when these two meet.
Anyway, both teams go into this match in good spirits. Leipzig figurehead Timo Werner ended a run of eight games without scoring by banging a hat-trick past Mainz at the weekend. He’s now only three goals behind Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski in the race for top scorer. Hertha meanwhile have won both their games since the restart, to the aggregate tune of 7-0. Matheus Cunha, who left Leipzig in January in search of regular football, has scored in four consecutive games. This could be a lot of fun.
And here’s the Fiver’s not-so-expert view. No need to thank us.
The title was pretty much decided last night, you’ll have noticed. Here’s Andy Brassell’s expert take on events.
One change to the Leipzig team that trounced Mainz on Sunday. Patrik Schick takes the injured Yussuf Poulsen’s place up front.
Hertha beat city rivals Union 4-0 at the weekend, so they unsurprisingly name an unchanged team. That means Vedad Ibisevic keeps his place in attack, while fancy new signing Krzystof Piatek remains on the bench. Matheus Cunha returns to the club he left in January.
Updated
The teams
Leipzig: Gulacsi, Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg, Laimer, Kampl, Sabitzer, Nkunku, Olmo, Werner, Schick.
Subs: Mvogo, Angelino, Orban, Haidara, Forsberg, Adams, Lookman, Wolf, Mukiele.
Hertha Berlin: Jarstein, Pekarik, Boyata, Torunarigha, Plattenhardt, Skelbred, Grujic, Lukebakio, Darida, Cunha, Ibisevic.
Subs: Smarsch, Piatek, Klunter, Dilrosun, Mittelstadt, Maier, Dardai, Ngankam, Samardzic.
Updated
Preamble
Welcome to our coverage of third versus 11th in the Bundesliga. As such, it’s the equivalent of Leicester City v Crystal Palace, Motherwell v Hamilton Academical, Sevilla v Osasuna, Internazionale v Sassuolo, Rennes v Angers, Sporting Braga v Boavista, Djurgardens v Kalmar, Weymouth v Hemel Hempstead Town, Fraserburgh v Deveronvale, and Colorado Rapids v San Jose Earthquakes in the MLS Western Conference. Just so we all know where we are. It’s on!
Kick off: 6.30pm in Germany, 5.30pm UK time.
