Josip Brekalo's injury-time penalty-kick against Arminia Bielefeld secured a fourth home win out of four for 2. Bundesliga leaders Hertha BSC. After seeing their winning streak end in Bochum last week, Stefan Leitl's side was heading to a second consecutive goalless draw before the late drama.
First, substitute Luca Schuler was denied a late winner after VAR spotted a handball in the move. The tables were turned when Maximilian Großer handled the ball inside the box in injury-time. Hertha’s captain duly took the responsibility with his 10th direct goal contribution extending their lead at the top of the standings.
Meanwhile, Magdeburg momentarily climbed to fourth after their 6-1 win over Karlsruhe, who seemed to put their poor run behind them when they beat Darmstadt 4-0 the previous week. The hosts started the season with a shocking 6-1 defeat to Eintracht Braunschweig in front of their fans, but they have now won four successive games at Avnet-Arena.
Emmanuel Iyoha continued his spectacular form in front of goal with his sixth strike of the season after last season's sensation Mateusz Żukowski scored the first two goals from penalty-kicks. Irish defender Anselmo García MacNulty, Roko Simic and Leon Merger all netted their first 2. Bundesliga goals for Magdeburg in a dominant second-half display.
Karlsruhe’s captain Marvin Wanitzek criticised the team's performance with strong words as they have only picked up two points from their first four games away from home. In the other fixture on Saturday afternoon, Heidenheim's winless run extended to four games after their home draw with Energie Cottbus.
Moroccan defender Oualid Mhamdi rescued a point for last season's Bundesliga side after Lucas Copaldo's goal gave the newly-promoted side a lead before half-time. All the three relegated Bundesliga clubs – Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Heidenheim – only picked up draws on matchday 9 as Hertha BSC, Nürnberg and Kaiserslautern rival them in the promotion race.