Hertha BSC beats Wolfsburg 2:1 as Cleiton is sent off and Reese is booed in Berlin

A red card changes the match

Hertha BSC started on the front foot, and Fabian Reese had the first real chance, hitting the crossbar in the second minute after a cross from Alexander Bernhardsson. Marius Gersbeck saved the rebound from Robert Glatzel. The game turned in the 22nd minute, when Cleiton brought down Sebastian Grönning as the last defender just outside the penalty area. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck first pointed to the spot and showed a yellow card, but after a VAR review the penalty became a free kick and the yellow became a red. Wolfsburg coach Tobias Strobl then made a change, bringing on Mathys Angely for Glatzel to strengthen the defence.

Two goals before the break

Wolfsburg held out at 0:0 until shortly before halftime. Oluwaseun Adewumi scored in the 44th minute, when Maximilian Arnold deflected his cross from the left past keeper Timon Wellenreuther. Deyovaisio Zeefuik made it 2:0 in the first minute of added time (45+2), winning the ball from Reese in midfield, sprinting into the box and finishing low into the far corner.

Kento Shiogai, who had just come on, pulled one back for Wolfsburg in the 47th minute by exploiting a lapse in the Hertha defence. Paul Seguin missed a good chance for the visitors in the 50th minute. Play stopped briefly when a paramedic needed treatment on the pitch, and he was carried off on a stretcher to applause.

Reese's return to Berlin

Reese was whistled from the moment he came out to warm up, about 40 minutes before kickoff, and the jeers followed him at nearly every touch. Many Berlin fans had turned against their former favourite over his transfer to Wolfsburg in the summer. Hertha coach Stefan Leitl had Zeefuik mark him. Reese's early shot was the closest Wolfsburg came to an equaliser before the sending off changed the balance of the game. Attendance was 70,928.

Table and what comes next

Hertha have 31 points from 11 matches and remain unbeaten at the top, seven points ahead of Nürnberg and 12 points clear of Wolfsburg. Before the match Wolfsburg were third, but the defeat moved them out of the promotion places. Hertha have matched the 28-point start that Bayer Leverkusen set in 1978/79, on course for what would be the best opening in the second division's history. Wolfsburg's next match is the Nordduell against Kiel on 21 November at 13:00, after the international break. Kiel lost 1:2 at home to Arminia Bielefeld on the same afternoon.