Hertha beat their ex-captain in front of 70,000 fans, Bielefeld and Magdeburg cruising – 5 things we learned from 2. Bundesliga Matchday 11
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Hertha BSC’s healthy lead at the top of 2. Bundesliga continues after a hard-fought win over Wolfsburg on matchday 11.
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Hertha prevail in front of 70,000 fans
70,000 fans were in attendance for Hertha BSC’s narrow win over fellow promotion hopefuls VfL Wolfsburg in the last 2. Bundesliga Topspiel before the season's second international break. After Cleiton’s early red card, the league leaders scored two goals at the end of the first-half, but they had a difficult time after the restart as Tobias Strobl’s men halved the deficit almost immediately.
However, Hertha still managed to take all three points as they only dropped two points after 11 rounds. Stefan Leitl's side weren't one of the pre-season favorites after the departures of key players, but they're now ten points ahead of third-placed Kaiserslautern.
Fabian Reese is one of the star players who left Hertha in the summer, but he was unable to make an impact on his return to a packed Olympiastadion. It was only the third time that the former Hertha captain didn't register a direct goal contribution in Wolfsburg colors.
Eighth clean sheet for Kaiserslautern
Nürnberg and Kaiserslautern will spend the international break in the top three after their respective wins over Darmstadt and Osnabrück. Miroslav Klose's men scored two second-half goals to return to winning ways at Max-Morlock-Stadion against relegation-threatened Darmstadt.
Meanwhile, Kaiserslautern's robust defense recovered from conceding three goals to all-conquering Hertha by keeping their eighth clean sheet of the season to help Torsten Lieberknecht's side record another narrow victory. Nürnberg and Kaiserslautern will host bottom half teams Eintracht Braunschweig and Dynamo Dresden after the international break.
Sixth time lucky: Bochum finally win at home
Uwe Rösler's troops are in a good run of form as they won three games on the trot. After qualifying for the Round of 16 in DFB-Pokal, Bochum won back-to-back games in 2. Bundesliga against Energie Cottbus and Karlsruher SC.
Sunday's late win against Karlsruhe ended their long wait for a first home win. The club's top-scorer Philipp Hofmann scored a second-half brace, including the winning goal in injury-time. The former Karlsruhe striker found the net in each of the last three games for VfL.
Four wins in five for Bielefeld
Arminia Bielefeld are another team in excellent form as they climbed out of the relegation zone with four wins in their last five games. Following their Saturday's success in Kiel, Oliver Kirch’s men climbed to sixth place with 17 points.
Meanwhile, Kiel are bottom of the 2. Bundesliga as Tim Walter's side lost back-to-back games for the first time. The former HSV, Stuttgart and Hull City coach is a candidate for the second managerial casualty in the league after Hannover replaced Christian Titz with Sandro Wagner.
Four goals send Magdeburg to fourth
One team that quickly sorted out their issues is certainly Magdeburg. After starting the season with a 6-1 home defeat to Braunschweig, Magdeburg collected 20 points in their last 10 games. A 4-1 victory over last season's Bundesliga club St. Pauli lifted the modest club to fourth place as they even lead the home table alongside Hertha.