Hertha Berlin, trapped in a terrifying downward spiral that has then mired deep in the relegation zone, fought amiably to hold top of the table Bayer 04 Leverkusen to a 2-2 draw at Olympiastadion. The result maintains the stunning perfect record of Werkself under manager Jupp Heynckes during the Hinrude whilst Hertha BSC trail Nürnberg and Stuttgart by a hearty seven points.

Nine minutes into the evening the Berliners jumped out in front as Colombian international Adrián Ramos was played in on the right channel by Cicero before deftly sending the ball past René Adler for the 1-0 lead. Hertha was resolute in defending and what advances get through ‘keeper Jaroslav Drobný was ready for the challenge. Finally with fourteen minutes left in regulation, Toni Kroos brought down Tranquillo Barnetta’s cross from the left wing before sending a powerful volley to the back of the net. A minute later things looked bleak for the Berliners as they were forced to play a man down as Gojko Kačar was shown his second yellow card for unsporting behaviour. As time wound down Leverkusen appeared to have grabbed the three points as Burak Kaplan’s effort ricocheted off Lukasz Piszczek over an outstretched Jaroslav Drobný and into the net for the 2-1 lead. However heroics were in store for Adrián Ramos in final moments of added time he headed in Raffael’s corner to bring the match to a 2-2 draw, honours even.

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