Hertha BSC Berlin 1 : 0 Augsburg - Kalou nets late Hertha winner

Posted Sunday, March 01, 2015 by PA

A last-gasp Salomon Kalou strike earned Hertha Berlin all three points and moved them out of the Bundesliga bottom three thanks to a 1-0 win over Augsburg on Saturday.

The Ivory Coast international grabbed the only goal of the game with just two minutes left on the clock to dent Augsburg's hopes of qualifying for Europe next season and earn the Old Lady a precious victory.

With Freiburg losing and Stuttgart held to a draw, the win took Hertha Berlin out of the bottom three for at least 24 hours, until Paderborn travel to Monchengladbach.

Caiuby's reward for his goal against Leverkusen last weekend was a place in the Augsburg starting XI as Markus Weinzierl looked to keep up his side's push for a place in Europe next season.

They showed they were keen on taking all three points when the action got underway, pegging their hosts back rather than just focusing on defending.

Berlin had to concentrate on countering inside their own home, but before they could do that, they had to keep things tight and prevent Augsburg from scoring, as they nearly did in the 28th minute.

Raul Bobadilla took Rahman Baba's cross down on his chest, but placed his shot just wide of the post.

Hertha's first real chance of the game arrived five minutes into the second half when Per Skjelbred's shot missed the target.

It was otherwise a scrappy affair with Hertha continuing to wait for chances on the break while Augsburg lacked any incision on their attacks, yet Weinzierl did not turn to any of his substitutes until late on.

It seemed that he was happy enough with a draw, but that was snatched away from him in the 88th minute.

Jens Hegeler sent in the cross which Kalou converted from close range to earn Hertha all three points, even though the sight of Marwin Hitz going forward for a corner deep into stoppage time caused some angst in light of his late goal against Bayer Leverkusen a week ago.

It was not to be a repeat this time, though, as Thomas Kraft clutched the ball to his chest and the final whistle blew.