Nuremberg continued their Ruckrunde resurgence with their second straight win, this time a 3-1 defeat away to Hertha Berlin in the capital.
The hosts got the perfect start as Adrian Ramos headed in a Ronny corner after just four minutes, but Nuremberg levelled when Markus Feulner rifled in low from a partial clearance.
In the second half after Josip Drmic scored for Nuremberg, Hertha had a goal ruled out. First Petrak handballed Ronny's effort, before Ramos was offside with the rebound. Then Drmic added his second from the spot in injury time.
Read how the drama unfolded below.
Good afternoon all! The Bundesliga continues today with another two games of round 19. First up we are in the capital for Hertha Berlin against Nuremberg.
Hertha have been excellent since their return to the top flight and particularly impressive at home. They have taken five wins from a possible nine so far and up against the side 17th they will fancy making it six from 10. A victory today would even move them into the top six, which is a real motivation.
Nuremberg went 17 league games without a win until their 4-0 victory last weekend. Amazingly they weren't bottom from that run because of their sheer volume of draws. They have drawn 11 times from their 18 games so far.
Right, so who is playing today? I have the team news in so will get that right over to you.
HERTHA XI: Kraft; Ndjeng, Lustenberger, Langkamp, Van den Bergh; Hosogai, Skjelbred; Allagui, Ronny, Schulz; Ramos
NUREMBERG XI: Schafer; Chandler, Petrak, Pinola, Plattenhardt; Frantz; Drmic, Feulner, Kiyotake, Hlousek; Ginczek
It's once again a consistent lineup for the hosts, which has no doubt helped their fine form so far this season. Adrian Ramos has really impressed and he once again starts up front. With Ronny in behind him there is plenty of threat for the visitors tonight. He, too, has been hard to deal with at many times so far.
For the away side it's something of a 4141 today. Daniel Ginczek leads the line ahead of a midfield that includes the dangerous Hiroshi Kiyotake. Holding in midfield will be Mike Frantz. His role in stopping Ronny could be key to the result this afternoon.
With two minutes to go until kickoff, let's have a look at the odds. Hertha are the favourites at around evens, while Nuremberg are some way back at 7/2. I have to agree with the odds today, and I think the home side will take this 2-1. With Nuremberg's draws, however, I wouldn't be overly surprised to see a 1-1.
KICKOFF: Here we go then. This should be an interesting battle in front of a lively Olympic Stadium.
BOOKING! early yellow here as Van den Bergh rips right through Markus Feulner! The Nuremberg man knows he's here, at least!
GOAL! Hertha 1-0 Nuremberg (Adrian Ramos)
That didn't take long! And it was the two dangermen I picked out who combined. Ronny puts in a near-post corner and Ramos heads low and in - that's his 12th goal in 19 games and amazingly is top of the charts!
The clean sheet that Nuremberg earned last week is now very quickly out of the window and this will be tough for them at what has been something of a fortress. Hertha are really up for it and are battling in the middle.
Good goalkeeping from Schafer there. The Nuremberg midfield and defence part for Allagui to thread towards Ramos, but the goalkeeper came out quickly to smother at his feet.
Plattenhardt puts in a cross from the left, and Kraft is a bit worried as it almost deflects into the path of an opponent, but he's alert enough and gathers without much danger.
CHANCE! Ramos might think he should have made it 2-0 there. Once again there's no-one near him but his attempt to slot low into the corner is telegraphed and Schafer gets down to save and hold on.
Ramos finds himself on the wing this time to cross and it nearly gets through but is hacked clear by Pinola. Hertha really do look like scoring whenever they attack.
Nuremberg are finally enjoying a spell of possession, although they have not tested Kraft yet. Good work from Ndjeng there to win a throw on the right.
GOAL! Hertha 1-1 Nuremberg (Markus Feulner)
Oh dear Van den Bergh. A cross comes in from the left and is flicked on, but the Hertha defender gets no distance on his clearance. It comes to Feulner, who takes a touch before drilling low into the opposite corner from the edge of the box. A great strike.
Can Hertha respond and get back on top of this one? They started well but have allowed Nuremberg back into this one and the hosts are suddenly up for it in the middle. I've seen another replay of Van den Bergh's clearance - woeful.
First chance from Kiyotake with a corner, but he decides to go short to Chandler. The right-back then strikes a low shot not too far wide of the near post. This has been a great response from Nuremberg.
Hertha come forward for the first time in quite some time and win a corner. However, it's poor and Nuremberg get it away.
BOOKING: Frantz apologises immediately, but he caught Hosogai with his toe after being just too slow in the tackle. He doesn't have too many complaints and the yellow is fair.
CHANCE! It's well poised at the moment and a long way to go for either side to take the lead. Then Schulz is found by Ronny, who then cuts across to Ramos in acres, but he somehow put his chance high and wide. Oh my what a miss!
OFF THE LINE! All of a sudden Hertha are all over their visitors! Pinola needed to be alert from a Hosogai shot and did well to hack it of the line.
The game has died down a little now after that sudden spell of home pressure. It would be an excellent time for either team to score now should they manage it before the break.
Nuremberg have taken the sting out of this at the moment. They try to work something as Ginczek found Feulner, but the latter's cross was too long.
HALF TIME: Hertha 1-1 Nuremberg
A very good half of football ends all square, and it's just about right. Hertha will probably think that they should have scored again - Ramos did miss a sitter - but Nuremberg battled well after going behind early on.
Ramos scored early on, getting to the near post to meet Ronny's corner. They have had spells where they were dominant, but in between Nuremberg have certainly had chances of their own. Their goal came from a mistake from Van den Bergh, who cleared straight to Feulner.
So far both coaches I think will be happy enough with what they have seen. They are both creating chances, but also are looking dodgy at the back at times. For a neutral, though, that's not a bad thing!
The players are coming back out and we're almost ready to go. I don't see any changes at the break. Oh wait, I'm wrong. Pekarik is on for Van den Bergh.
We're off! It was an excellent first half, so let's hope for more of the same.
CLOSE! Great effort there from Kiyotake. He kept his head over the ball and there was little backlift, but his drive from range went just a yard over the bar. Good effort.
Dangerous free kick here for Hertha as Ronny pings a low one into the box. After a scramble the ball is eventually put over the top of the bar.
Hertha sre playing well so far in this half, and they look more likely than Nuremberg to score. Neither side has tested their opposite goalkeeper yet, though.
Nuremberg have taken the sting out of Hertha's early pressure in this half and it's become quite edgy. A few tackles are flying in at the moment.
Ronny swings his left boot at the ball from the edge of the box, after a clearance came to him. However, his shot is blocked and away to safety. There were too many red shirts to get through there.
BOOKING: Ronny goes into the book for an elbow on Frantz. I'm not sure it was deliberate and they shake hands afterwards. No hard feelings.
GOAL! Hertha 1-2 Nuremberg (Josip Drmic)
Wonderful pass from Drmic to Ginczek in the first place, whose shot is low across the keeper, but comes back off the post. Drmic is following up, however, and taps into the empty net via a deflection. This has been a fine start to the Ruckrunde for Nuremberg.
BOOKING: Feulner finally goes into the book after a number of fouls. That has been coming. A change for the hosts as well as Muhktar comes on for Schulz.
Hertha are not looking all that likely to score at the moment. In fact, as Ginczek tries to get through down the right, Nuremberg are on top.
HERTHA SUB: Sandro Wagner is on for Hosogai for the hosts. What can he do to salvage this for them?
BOOKING: Lustenberger becomes the next man booked. He was brought down by Kiyotake, but reacted angrily which is why he got shown the yellow by the referee.
Good chance there for Hlousek to find Ginczek with a cross, but he did not get enough on his delivery and it was headed away by Ndjeng.
SAVE! Great effort there from Gebhart! A corner is headed out as far as him, and his strike was heading towards the bottom corner but was well turned wide by Kraft.
DISALLOWED GOAL! There's a red card too! Petrak handballed off the line before Ramos turned it in! I think a penalty has been given instead, but just allow the goal! This is insane.
What is happening?! Ramos was offside when Ronny's shot came in and so his rebound doesn't count! They don't even get a penalty! This is unbelievable.
There will be four minutes added on. What drama here.
PENALTY TO NUREMBERG!
GOAL! Hertha 1-3 Nuremberg (Drmic, pen)
FULL TIME! Hertha 1-3 Nuremberg
Thanks for joining me for this dramatic game! I'm over on the Bayern comm very shortly, so look out for that. Goodbye.
Written by
Matt Domm
Matt Domm
