Magdeburg climbs out of the cellar: 1:0 against Hertha BSC

With their third home win in a row, 1. FC Magdeburg have taken a good step towards securing their place in the league. The Magdeburg side won 1:0 (0:0) against Hertha BSC in front of 28,123 spectators. Laurin Ulrich (61) scored the goal. With 36 points, Magdeburg are in 14th place, two points ahead of the relegation play-off place

"We knew it would be a match of equals. Similar to the first leg at the break at 0-0, we knew we had one more step to go to keep the three points with us, and thank God that worked out," said goalscorer Ulrich after the game.

Little excitement in the first half

Most important change in the Magdeburg starting eleven: Goalkeeper Mateusz Zukowski returned after his yellow card suspension. In addition, Jean Hugonet started alongside Marcus Mathisen in central defense. The teams felt each other out a little in the opening minutes, lacking the determination to score - an initial approach by Baris Atik missed the target. Hertha relied on long balls and passes, while FCM tried to play through on the wing.

However, there were only half-chances for both sides. Due to the warm weather, there was a break for drinks, but at least it didn't disrupt the rhythm of the game - there was hardly any anyway. Instead, both teams alternated periods of possession without creating much goal threat. Hertha had the best chance of the game shortly before the break, but goalkeeper Dominik Reimann kept out Fabian Reese's blocked shot (45+1.)

Laurin Ulrich's third goal of the season was enough

The second half continued in the same vein. FCM kept looking for passes to Zukowski, but the Hertha defense mostly doubled him: the Pole remained pale. Hertha dominated the game with more possession, but the Berliners made little of their superiority.

Magdeburg took advantage of a counter-attack to win the game: Alexander Nollenberger let a Berlin player off, took a shot - and Ulrich pushed the rebound into the goal. Zukowski scored shortly afterwards, but was offside. FCM then retreated very deep at times and were lucky that Reimann saved from Marten Winkler with a foot reflex (67'). Overall, however, not much more happened - not even in the seven minutes of stoppage time.