Ninety-two minutes and it all had to be done again
Two minutes were left on the clock. Hertha Berlin were ahead. Saarbrucken had shown next to nothing for an hour and a half.
Fahrner levelled it.
The Ludwigsparkstadion erupted and the German Cup first round turned into a long, miserable night for the men from Berlin. 1-1 at the end of normal time. 1-1 again after extra time. Penalties were needed to split the sides on Saturday.
Hertha won them 4-2. Four Berlin takers, four goals. At the other end, two Saarbrucken players were denied by Gersbeck. A thin margin, really, for a side that had bossed the match from start to finish.
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Seguin had already done the hard part
0-0 at the break. Nothing much to report, apart from a Saarbrucken side camped deep and a Hertha team circling without finding a way through.
Then came the 69th minute. Seguin picked out the top corner with a strike that looked like it had settled things. A quality goal in a game that barely deserved one.
Twenty-three minutes later, it was all up in the air again. That is the German Cup for you. A Bundesliga club can lead, control possession, hit the target, and still end up watching a penalty taker place the ball on the spot because an opposing defender nodded home at the right moment in stoppage time.
Saarbrucken, the name that never goes away
No one takes Saarbrucken lightly in this competition. The club reached the semi-finals in 2020 while playing in the fourth tier. Four years later, they knocked out Bayern Munich and Frankfurt and went all the way back to the last four.
Hertha knew all that. It did not stop the Berlin side from letting a game slip through their fingers. They are through to the next round. They probably will not be calling it convincing.
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