Hertha Berlin snatch 1-0 win against Hamburg in Bundesliga

Sebastian Langkamp celebrates his goal for Hertha Berlin against Hamburg

Berlin, March 21 (IANS) Hertha Berlin SC carved out a late 1-0 win against Hamburger SV thanks to Sebastian Langkamp's header in the first match of the 26th round of the Bundesliga.

Berlin wrapped up vital points in the relegation battle as Langkamp secured his side their eighth win of the season on Friday, while relegation-threatened Hamburg suffered their 13th loss in 26 games, reports Xinhua.

Both sides lacked ideas to pose a threat going forward, thus goal-scoring opportunities remained a rare occurrence over the course of the 90 minutes.

Hamburg took control on home soil against the passive visitors from Berlin, but the hosts were only able to secure one noteworthy chance through Zoltan Stieber, who forced Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft to make a save.

However, as the match progressed Hamburg handed over control to Berlin, who got their first shot on target through Anis Ben Hatira before the break. After the restart, Hamburg had the best chance to break the deadlock, but Pierre-Michel Lasogga took too much time to complete his effort from inside the box.

The momentum of the game changed with the dismissal of Hamburg's Cleber. The defender, who got his second yellow card of the evening for repeated foul play, weakened his team in the 81st minute.

Cleber's dismissal was punished only four minutes later as Langkamp killed the game by heading home Marvin Plattenhardt's long free kick cross into the box.

With the victory, Berlin jumped to 13th position in the table, establishing a six-point gap with the Bundesliga drop zone. Meanwhile, Hamburg sat next to the relegation zone with just a two-point advantage.