Hertha Berlin recovered from conceding an early goal to secure a 3-2 win over Stuttgart at the Olympia Stadion in the Bundesliga this evening.
The visitors made a bright start to the match, and took the lead inside the opening five minutes when Florian Klein picked out Moritz Leitner with a through-ball, leaving the midfielder to drill the ball in from the centre of the box.
Fabian Lustenberger almost got Hertha back on level terms within two minutes, but he headed just wide from an Anis Ben-Hatira free kick.
The hosts continued to create chances, with Salomon Kalou twice forcing saves from Thorsten Kirschbaum in the opening 20 minutes.
Berlin got back on level terms midway through the first half when Carlos Gruezo brought down Valentin Stocker in the penalty area, setting up Kalou to fire the ball in from the spot.
Ben-Hatira and Kalou both had chances to give the home side the lead before half time, but a string of saves from Kirschbaum kept the teams level at the break.
Timo Werner almost put Stuttgart back in front at the start of the second half as he tried to head the ball into the back of the net from a Gotoku Sakai cross, but his finish was saved.
The save proved vital shortly after as Kalou slotted home his second of the night to give Hertha the lead, sliding the ball in following a quick move from Stocker.
Roy Beerens scored his first goal of the season with just over 15 minutes still to play to give the home side a two-goal cushion, striking the ball first time from a Ben-Hatira cross.
Stuttgart pushed hard to try to reduce the deficit late on, and were given some late hope when Lustenberger deflected the ball into his own net while trying to clear from a Leitner free kick.
The result moves Hertha up to 12th in the table, while Stuttgart sit 15th.
Sian Cowper
