Stevens fails to inspire Hamburg

Huub Stevens was denied a winning start to his reign as Hamburger SV coach after two late goals earned Hertha BSC Berlin a victory which plunged the Bundesliga's bottom side further into trouble as three of their relegation rivals avoided defeat.

Perfect start
With none of the top five teams in action the focus turned to the other end of the standings with Dutchman Stevens taking charge of Hamburg for the first time since replacing Thomas Doll on Thursday. And after Marko Pantelić missed an early penalty for Hertha it looked as though he might get the perfect start when Alexander Laas put the visitors in front with 34 minutes on the clock.

Dramatic finish
If the Hamburg supporters thought their relentless run of misfortune was about to finally come to an end, they were to be sadly mistaken as a remarkable turnaround took place in the final eleven minutes. First German international defender Arne Friedrich scored an equaliser before debutant Mineiro introduced himself to the Hertha faithful with a winning goal a minute into added time. It was a victory that moved the club from the capital up to fifth place, just two points behind third-placed VfB Stuttgart.

Luhukay joy
Hamburg's defeat was compounded by their three closest rivals all picking up at least a point to leave them three adrift at the bottom. VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach were the greatest beneficiaries as they won their first match in 14 - new coach Jos Luhukay guiding them to a 2-0 success at DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Meanwhile, 1. FSV Mainz 05 and VfL Bochum 1848 respectively drew 0-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Energie Cottbus. Hannover 96 were the afternoon's biggest winners, triumphing 4-1 at TSV Alemannia Aachen to climb to eighth, while VfL Wolfsburg beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-2.