Hertha survive late Wolfsburg pressure to remain unbeaten through eleven

Hertha BSC move seven points clear at the top of 2. Bundesliga going into the international break, defeating VfL Wolfsburg in the Saturday primetime match by a 2-1 result. Oluwaseun Victor Adewumi and Deyovaisio Zeefuik scored in the hosts’ victory.

Hertha BSC (9-1-0, 1st) hosted VfL Wolfsburg (5-4-1, 4th) in a major Saturday primetime 2. Bundesliga match at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Hertha remain the only unbeaten team in the current 2. Bundesliga season, but both sides have gone without a defeat in their last five matches: Hertha picked up 13 points out of a potential 15 (4-1-0), while Wolfsburg picked up 11 (3-2-0). A win for Wolfsburg would put them back into third place, above 1. FC Kaiserslautern, while a win for Hertha would put them a full seven points clear of 1. FC Nürnberg at the top of the table.

This match has some historical context of note: in the last season that Wolfsburg were in 2. Bundesliga, 1996/97, they promoted alongside Hertha – both sides finished with identical point totals (58), but Die Wölfe had a slightly better goal differential (+23 to +19). As there were three direct promotion spots at the time, 1. FC Kaiserslautern also made their way to the top of the second division.

It was also a notable day for Hertha top scorer in the 2025/26 season, Fabian Reese – who returned to face his former club after a move to Wolfsburg in the summer transfer window. Months prior, Reese signed a contract extension with the capital club to 2030; following the move and intense criticism from supporters, he stated that the move was mainly because of a financial need on the side of the capital club and not because of a desire of his own to leave.

Reese would get the first chance of the match after just a minute and a half, a lob into the centre of the box that was easily gloved down by Marius Gersback. He then had another chance in the fourth minute, blasting the ball off the bottom of the bar with a right-footed curling shot; despite repetitive whacks from Muhammed Damar and Robert Glatzel, neither could get it over the line and the hosts were able to reset.

The hosts would go the other way in the seventh minute, with a pass into the left side of the box from captain Josip Brekalo reaching the left boot of Mads Pedersen. The Danish left-back launched an almost immediate attempt towards the top-left corner, but lifted the ball off the side netting and slightly out of play.

Neither side saw another chance for another twelve minutes; in the nineteenth, a Niklas Kolbe fake pass in the midfield surprised Maximilian Arnold before the former sent a long ground pass to the edge of the box. Grønning got on the receiving end of it and broke into the centre of the Wolfsburg penalty area, unopposed; reading the situation, Cleiton came in from behind and knocked him to the ground, with head official Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck almost instantly pointing to the spot.

The Brazilian centre-back was initially issued a yellow, but after a consultation with VAR officials Nicolas Winter and Christian Dingert, it was upgraded to a red and he went down the tunnel. It was also determined that the feet of Grønning at the time of the foul were at the edge of the box, not in it; the ensuing free kick from Brekalo went off Joakim Mæhle and well over the bar for an eventually unsuccessful corner. Wolfsburg coach Tobias Strobl made a defensive change to balance out his formation after the set piece, with Robert Glatzel replaced by Mathys Angély.

Hertha held the majority of possession for the next fifteen minutes, but only landed one shot on target in that span – coming close on a few other occasions, if not for the visiting defence. The most notable was a powerful shot from Pedersen towards the centre of the goal in the thirty-fourth minute, but Wellenreuther followed with a well-timed, acrobatic save with his right hand to steer it away for a corner that was ultimately cleared by the visitors.

The hosts would finally find a breakthrough in the forty-fourth minute, as a cross into the centre of the box from Brekalo on the wing reached Oluwaseun Victor Adewumi. Within a split-second, Adewumi found an open lane between Hauke Wahl and Angély to shoot towards the bottom-left corner – and did just that, with Wellenreuther’s attempt to paw it away being slightly late.

Hertha doubled the lead shortly after, as Reese was dispossessed by Grønning in the centre of the ground. The 29-year-old Danish forward played the ball through to 28-year-old Dutch-Surinamese right-back Deyovaisio Zeefuik, who darted into the right side of the box before slamming the ball past Wellenreuther and into the same bottom-left corner.

Jöllenbeck called both sides to the dressing rooms shortly after, with Hertha leading Wolfsburg by two goals to none at the break. Shots finished 10-5 to the hosts, 5-2 on target; Hertha held 55 % possession and managed a better pass accuracy of 84 % on 178 completions to 76 % on 139. Hertha were dominant in the opposing penalty area, managing fourteen touches in the Wolfsburg box compared to two from Wolfsburg in the Hertha box.

The hosts, in blue and white, kicked off the second half with an upfield punt, going left to right; Wolfsburg, in green, would go right to left when they had their attacking chances. Strobl would make a second change, with Kento Shiogai entering in place of Maximilian Arnold; the 21-year-old Japanese forward made an almost instant impact, turning to evade Linus Gechter before sending the ball into the bottom-right corner off a pass from an under-pressure Vinícius Souza.

Hertha nearly had a response of their own in the fiftieth minute, as a through ball from Jón Dagur Þorsteinsson found Grønning on the left side of the box. Grønning attempted to chip the ball above a charging Wellenreuther and into the bottom-right corner, but missed by a few metres.

The match had to be paused in the sixty-sixth minute, as an awkward standing challenge between Kevin Sessa and Vinícius Souza sent the latter to the ground with some clear pain in his left leg. The Brazilian had to be brought off due to injury concerns, but the visiting medical staff eventually cleared him to return to play – he was eventually substituted off in the eighty-fifth minute. The two sides stopped playing for another three minutes due to a medical emergency with a member of the Hertha medical staff, who had to be carried off on a stretcher by paramedics in the venue.

Play resumed in the seventy-seventh minute, with Hertha just a few metres from sealing all three points on the following opportunity. A run into the right side of the visiting third from Adewumi led to a ground pass into the box that nearly reached the boot of Swedish substitute Gustaf Nilsson – however, Saël Kumbedi stepped in and knocked the ball away just before the 29-year-old could tap the ball over the line. The following corner was quickly cleared by a towering header from Wahl.

Wolfsburg could not find an opportunity for a late equaliser until the third minute of seven in stoppage time, when Shiogai found space for an open run into the right side of the box. As he was about to take a shot, substitute Pascal Klemens caught his legs without winning possession, sending the Japanese international to the ground. Jöllenbeck gave Shiogai, and then Strobl yellow cards for protesting the decision to award a free kick to Hertha for simulation.

Due to numerous stoppages, the seven minutes extended into ten, but regardless of what Wolfsburg tried – even bringing Wellenreuther upfield on numerous occasions – they could not find the back of the net and time ran out. Hertha remain unbeaten in the German second division, picking up their tenth victory of the season at the Olympiastadion by two goals to one.

Shots in the second half finished 5-4 to Hertha, but 2-1 to Wolfsburg on target. Possession was an equal 50 – 50 (%), but pass accuracy went in Hertha’s favour: 80 % on 149 completions to 71 % on 137. Touches in the opposing penalty area went 8-7 to the capital club. Overall, Hertha outshot Wolfsburg 16-9, 6-4 on target with 52 % possession and a pass accuracy of 82 % on 327 completions to 74 % on 277. Touches in the opposing penalty area finished a dominant 23-9 in favour of the hosts.

The two sides will train during the international break and return to action in two weeks. After facing the team at the top of the league, VfL Wolfsburg will host the team at the bottom: KSV Holstein Kiel (1-5-5, 18th) on Saturday, 21. November, with kickoff at Volkswagen Arena set for 13.00 (CET). Hertha BSC will face mid-table Energie Cottbus (2-5-4, 10th) away on Sunday, 22. November, 13.00 (CET) at LEAG Energie Stadion.