Julian Schieber’s injury-time winner sealed Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 victory at home to newly-promoted Freiburg yesterday for a dramatic start to the hosts’ 2016/17 German league season.
Hertha were cruising to a 1-0 win at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga, thanks to Vladimir Darida’s second-half goal before the game burst into life in the final ten minutes.
Ex-Dortmund striker Schieber came off the bench for Vedad Ibisevic with 85 minutes gone and played a key role after Freiburg drew level with a stunning header from their captain Nicolas Hoefler in the 93rd minute.
With visiting Freiburg fans still cheering, Hertha roared back as Schieber latched onto a blocked shot from Japan winger Genki Haraguchi and his crude shot rolled into the goal in the 95th minute.
“It’s a dream for any footballer to score the winning goal in front of home fans shortly before the end, even if it was a scuffed shot,” said Scheiber after netting his first goal since knee surgery in March 2015.
Blue skies over Germany saw the mercury hit 35 degrees Celcius in the shade in the capital and the players were often reduced to walking pace in Berlin.
The hosts dominated possession and were rewarded with the three points after creating the better chances.
They hit the crossbar when Haraguchi had his second-half shot saved, but the ball hit the woodwork when Hoefler headed away after 57 minutes.
Berlin went ahead five minutes later when Haraguchi played the ball into Ibisevic, whose pass found Darida unmarked and his shot beat Freiburg goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow.
Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou, who suffered a double bereavement in the last two weeks following the death of his mother and father, was left on Hertha’s bench for the final ten minutes.
In the second match yesterday, RB Leipzig, who were only founded in 2009 when Austrian energy drinks firm Red Bull bought their licence, scored a last-gasp equaliser against Hoffenheim to end up with a 2-2 score line in their Bundesliga debut match.
The match in Berlin was not the only one affected by high temperatures over Germany at the weekend.
Borussia Dortmund players admitted suffering in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Mainz, which kicked off at 1530 local time (1330 GMT) when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted twice.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday night was also affected as the temperature hit the high 30s across Germany.