It’s three on the trot for Hertha Berlin as they beat Mainz, 2-0 on Sunday in the Bundesliga to strengthen their grip on third place and head into the winter break with hopes of Champions League football alive.

Hertha Berlin found the lead in the 35th minute of the match when Vladimir Darida scored with his left foot at the Olympic Stadium. Berlin doubled their lead just 10 minutes after halftime when Salomon Kalou got himself at the end of a marvelous through pass from Vedad Ibisevic, got himself clear off his marker and placed in a fantastic goal off his right foot.

Ibisevic was the creator of both the goals for Hertha and the Bosnian could have had one for himself, only for the offside flag to deny him. Later in the match, Berlin could have increased their lead when a back heel from Ibisevic went wide of the goal.

The home team never experienced any threat from a weak Mainz side, which only managed a couple of shots on goal for the entire duration of the 90 minutes and can have no complains over the final result of the match. With this defeat, Mainz has lost for the first time in seven games.

In another late match, Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated Darmstadt, 3-2 despite being down to 10 men. The home side lost their captain Granit Xhaka through a red card in the 39th minute while they were trailing a goal.

Lars Stindl and Harvard Nordtveit turned the tides for Moenchengladbach before Sandro Wagner equalized for Darmstadt. But, in the 87th minute of the match, Oscar Wendt scored the winning goal sending the home supporters into cheers.

Meanwhile, the three crucial points give Hertha Berlin their 10th win from 17 games and are only behind the runaway leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga table. If they can keep up the impressive run of play after the winter break, the Olympiastadion may have a chance of listening to the famous Champions League anthem once again.
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