BERLIN (AP) — Hertha Berlin defender Marton Dárdai scored on his 21st birthday in a morale-boosting 4-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach to help the team’s bid for Bundesliga survival on Sunday.
Hertha had only scored one goal in its previous four games this year – all defeats – but the team came back from Nico Elvedi’s early score for Gladbach with goals from Jessic Ngankam, Dárdai, Derry Scherhant and Dodi Lukebakio to climb one place above Stuttgart and into the league’s relegation playoff place. The bottom two are relegated automatically.
Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz said before the game he was switching to three at the back with five in midfield instead of the usual 4-3-3 formation, but he can’t have been happy with his team’s defense when former Hertha defender Luca Netz sent in a corner for Elvedi to open the scoring with a header in the 17th.
The visitors dominated possession and looked to be in total control until Ngankam equalized in the 30th. Tolga Ciğerci sent Marco Richter through with a clever drag-back and Richter crossed for Ngankam to score from close range.
Dárdai scored early in the second half, rewarding Hertha’s pressure with a fierce shot from outside the penalty area that went in off the underside of the crossbar.
It was Dárdai’s first Bundesliga goal, scored with his father —former Hertha player and coach Pál Dárdai — watching among the fans.
Hertha substitutes Scherhant and Lukebakio both scored in injury time – the latter with a penalty – to seal Hertha’s first win of 2023, dropping Gladbach down to tenth.
Cologne was hosting Eintracht Frankfurt in the late game.
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