Hertha BSC celebrates home win: Krattenmacher makes his debut!

Hertha BSC celebrates home win: Krattenmacher makes his debut!

On October 26, 2025, Hertha BSC and Fortuna Düsseldorf met in Berlin's home stadium, and the game brought with it a lot of drama. However, the kick took place in a less than golden context, as Hertha recently suffered a bitter defeat against VfL Bochum, while Düsseldorf lost out in their first game under coach Markus beginning, losing 1-2 to Eintracht Braunschweig. Both teams are low in the table - Düsseldorf with just 10 points out of a possible 27, their weakest second division season in a decade, and Hertha with a home game record of one win, one draw and two defeats. According to Wettbasis, the omens seemed anything but favorable.

In the direct duel, the Düsseldorf team showed an appealing performance in the first half, although the conversion of their chances left a lot to be desired. Hertha, on the other hand, started slowly but was able to improve after halftime. After an emotional game in which both teams missed numerous opportunities, it was Herthan's Krattenmacher who scored the decisive 1-0 in stoppage time - his first goal for the Berliners. As reported in the ticker by Kicker, the goal was created thanks to a counterattack after winning the ball, in which Reese served Krattenmacher, who hit the net from 15 meters.

The game in detail

In the first half, Düsseldorf had eight shots on goal, while Hertha had no shots at all. This only changed in the last half hour of the first half, when the Berliners gained more control of the game. In the most exciting phase of the game, both teams continued to attack, but Hertha managed to turn things around thanks to the late goal. In the end, Herthan celebrated their second home win of the season and are now in tenth place in the table with 11 points. Düsseldorf, on the other hand, remains in thirteenth place with just one point less.

The last duels between the two teams have favored Düsseldorf, as Fortuna won both encounters last year. Overall, Düsseldorf also leads with 18 wins in 46 duels, while Hertha only emerged victorious 12 times. Hertha won its last encounter against Düsseldorf 3-1 in October 2019. This resulted in the interesting constellation that Hertha tried to react to the long-ago record with a narrow victory.

Looking ahead

The pressure on both teams could hardly have been greater. Before the game, Düsseldorf had an away strength of 90% of the points - i.e. 9 out of 10 points had been won in foreign stadiums, while Hertha, as already mentioned, was only moderately successful in the home arena. There is still a long way to go for coach Beginn, whose debut in Düsseldorf got off to a bumpy start. His next task will be to make up for the lost points as quickly as possible, while Hertha is now hoping for an upward trend. The game was definitely a step in the right direction.