Hoffenheim striker Vedad Ibisevic showed last season’s cruciate knee operation is behind him with a first-half hat-trick in the 5-1 humiliation of bottom side Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
Lucien Favre’s position as Hertha coach looks increasingly precarious after his side slumped again following last Sunday’s 4-0 hammering at home to Freiburg.
The 25-year-old Ibisevic, the league’s top-scorer going into January’s winter break before his knee injury struck, needed just 21 minutes to wrap up his hat-trick as he marked his first goals in the league this season.
PHOTO: EPA
“In the last few games I hadn’t scored, but neither had I played badly,” Ibisevic said after his side’s seventh game of the season. “Today, the goals came back by themselves, I played with a new pair of boots and I am delighted that I scored three goals, really delighted.”
Having smashed home his first shot from 15m out after barely a minute, Ibisevic struck with a header on four minutes and again on 21 minutes as he was twice left virtually unmarked in the Hertha penalty area.
Berlin’s Raffael pulled back a goal with a direct free-kick right on the stroke of halftime, but Hoffenheim’s Nigeria striker Chinedu Obasi then netted in the 58th minute before Carlos Eduardo struck a penalty in the 62nd minute.
PHOTO: EPA
The win puts Hoffenheim third behind leaders Hamburg and second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, while Hertha are bottom with just three points from seven games.
Freiburg also secured their third win in four league games when they thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0.
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