Berlin: Eintracht captain Braunschweig Martin Kobylanski scored a hat-trick when newcomers to the second division surprised Hertha Berlin 5-4 in the first circular of the German Cup on Friday to kick off the new German football season. The hosts needed 63 seconds to take the lead in an incredibly entertaining attack with a 25-meter loose kick from Kobylanski in front of 500 enthusiasts allowed in the 25,000-seat arena.
A headbutt of Jannis Nikolaou bounced off Maximilian Mittelstaedt’s back and entered Hertha’s with a purpose contrary to his appearance in the 17th minute.
However, Hertha, who had lost his last three preseason matches against Hamburg SV, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam scoring a goal, recovered and scored twice in six minutes with a headbutt of Dodi Lukebakio and a shot by Matheus Cunha in 29.
Braunschweig returned a minute before the break with Kobylanski sliding to score in the rebound after his penalty conceded, but Hertha did the 3-3 thanks to Peter Pekarik before Kobylanski scored his hat-trick with a heavy shot.
Suleiman Abdullahi thought he had killed each and every chance of some other Hertha comeback, signing after a very good help from Ben Balla, who discovered his teammate with a backflick in the air.
Lukekabio shot at the time at 83 to reduce the deficit to 5-4, but despite several overdue opportunities, the Bundesliga club failed to tie.
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