Ernst: "The way we defend is incredibly strong."

Time to celebrate: Tjark Ernst (right, next to him Fabian Reese, Marton Dardai, Michal Karbownik) celebrates Hertha's 1-0 victory in Kaiserslautern. IMAGO/Werner Schmitt

Tjark Ernst has known the very special atmosphere at the Betzenberg stadium since childhood – ever since his father , Thomas, guarded the goal for 1. FC Kaiserslautern (2003-2006). The Berlin goalkeeper therefore knew what to expect from Hertha BSC on Saturday evening. "Anyone who knows the atmosphere and saw it again today: that's pure football. That was pure fighting spirit," Ernst told Sky after his team's 1-0 away win . "We accepted the challenge. It was an absolute hard-fought victory. But we were prepared for the fact that it wasn't about playing beautiful football here."

With a disciplined, intense, and structured performance, the Berliners, who kept a clean sheet in their fourth consecutive competitive match, were in complete control for over an hour. The only blemish on their convincing display was the lack of a second goal, which would have settled the matter earlier. "After 60 or 65 minutes, this game should have been over," stated coach Stefan Leitl . "We were clearly the better team and had numerous scoring opportunities."

Berlin failed to capitalize on four, five, six high-quality counter-attacking opportunities. "Unfortunately, we didn't reward ourselves to seal the game. And then," said Leitl, "Betze, of course, came out of nowhere with their passion and their first scoring chance. Then we had another very good Tjark Ernst."

Hertha's goalkeeper, who is having an outstanding season so far, delivered another demonstration of his excellent form in Kaiserslautern – and was particularly effective against Mika Haas, making several crucial saves (22nd, 89th, 90+2). Even Ernst's Kaiserslautern counterpart, Julian Krahl, praised him: "Tjark is having a very, very strong season. Hertha can consider themselves lucky to have him."

Leitl's team weathered the final stages, including Ivan Prtajin 's offside goal (90+3), and recorded their seventh clean sheet of this second-division season. Including the DFB Cup, Hertha Berlin have nine clean sheets in 14 competitive matches. "Keeping a clean sheet is always a bit of a satisfaction," admitted Ernst, passing the praise on to his teammates: "The way we've defended as a team in recent weeks has been incredibly strong. It starts right up front, how we close down the spaces, and it extends throughout the entire team."

Leitl also offered high praise to his team, which has now found its footing after a difficult start to the season. "I'm pleased that we're playing mature and disciplined football," explained the coach, who had brought on Niklas Kolbe at left-back and moved Michal Karbownik to the right as a replacement for the injured Linus Gechter , and whose decisions were confirmed by Kolbe's confident performance. "We have many talented individual players who put the team first and still have their moments and shine."

That's undoubtedly true, and at the same time, Saturday evening's match in Kaiserslautern was more about fighting spirit than brilliance, and more about counter-attacking football than possession-based football. In short: it was the perfect approach for the away game in the Palatinate.