Hertha's Zecke was shown the red card

And, when Eric Deloumeaux, was sent off midway through the second half, the Germans once again took control until the introduction of the man who has topped Hertha's scoring charts in four of the last five seasons gave them victory.

Aberdeen's French striker, Laurent D'Jaffo, passed a late fitness test.

But Scotland international Kevin McNaughton was out injured and young defender Kevin Rutkiewicz made his first start in five months at right-back.

Hertha coach Huub Stevens surprised everyone by leaving Preetz on the bench.

Aberdeen were under pressure from the start and had a lucky escape in the 18th minute when defender Phillip McGuire slipped, allowing Marcelinho a free run on the right flank.

When the Brazilian's cross came into the box, the unmarked Luizao looked certain to score from only eight yards out, but goalkeeper Peter Kjaer blocked brilliantly to save a certain goal.

Hertha won a string of corners and defender Dick van Burik's header from 10 yards hit the top of the bar.

The home side were reduced to 10 men after Goor was booked for a foul on Darren Mackie.

No way through for Dons' Laurent D'Jaffo

A melee ensued during which Zecke head-butted McGuire.

The 2,000 travelling fans in the 30,000-strong crowd were given some heart as Hertha struggled to match their first-half possession after the break.

But Aberdeen failed to put sufficient pressure on the home goalkeeper and lost their one-man advantage after 65 minutes when Deloumeaux was rightly shown his second yellow card for a late, lunging tackle.

Luizao's neat back-heel gave Hertha an immediate chance to take advantage, but Marcelinho side-footed his drive wide from 16 yards.

Aberdeen finally exerted a bit of pressure of their own with eight minutes remaining and Russell Anderson had a header cleared off the Hertha line from a corner kick.

The cross had been taken by substitute Nicolas Fabiano and it was the Frenchman who created the next chance, jinking into the Hertha box and delivering a low drive that was well held by goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.

But Hertha were peppering the Dons goal with long-range efforts.

And it was a cross into the box by Mercelinho that caught the Aberdeen defence napping as an unchallenged, near-post header by Preetz entered the net from 10 yards.

Hertha Berlin: Kiraly, Rehmer, Van Burik, Friedrich, Hartmann, Pinto, Neuendorf, Marx, Goor, Luizao, Marcelinho. Subs: Lapaczinski, Preetz, Dardai, Tretschok, Maas, Madlung, Fiedler.

Aberdeen: Kjaer, Rutkiewicz, Anderson, McGuire, McAllister, Mackie, Darren Young, Derek Young, Deloumeaux, Bisconti, D'Jaffo. Subs: Mike, Clark, Fabiano, Michie, Payne, Billio, Preece.

Referee: G Gilewski (Poland).