Ibisevic puts Hertha on top

Hertha Berlin leapfrogged Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday as captain Vedad Ibisevic scored twice in a 4-2 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.

With Bayern playing later at Schalke, Hertha seized their chance to go top with a convincing come-back win at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. After Gladbach’s Belgium midfielder Thorgan Hazard netted a 29th-minute penalty -- his seventh goal in ten games against Hertha -- Berlin roared back. Ibisevic headed home his first goal a minute after Hazard had struck before Austria midfielder Valentino Lazaro scored with another header on 34 minutes to make it 2-1 at the break. Salomon Kalou then provided the final pass for his forward partner Ibisevic to slot home Berlin’s third goal midway through the second half.

New signing Alassane Plea gave Gladbach hope with 23 minutes to go before Ondrej Duda scored Hertha’s fourth goal by tapping home a great cross from Dutch winger Javairo Dilrosun to delight the 52,000-strong home crowd. The next visitors to Hertha’s Olympic Stadium are Niko Kovac’s Bayern on Friday. Pulisic rescues Dortmund US international Christian Pulisic again rescued Borussia Dortmund, who had been reduced to 10 men, with a late goal to equalize in a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim.

The home team took the lead just before the break when their Brazilian forward Joe Linton pounced on a mistake by Dortmund defender Abdou Diallo. Dortmund’s defense was in all sorts of trouble and only the video assistant referee spotting a marginal offside, when Ermin Bicakcic headed into the net five minutes after the break, denied Hoffenheim the second goal.