Teams | November 6, 2012 at 03:21 PM
Hertha hand 1860 first defeat of the season
Hertha hand 1860 first defeat of the season
Hertha scored three times after the break to extend their unbeaten run to seven games.
Matchday 9 saw Hertha BSC entertain unbeaten TSV 1860 München at the rainy and windy Olympic stadium on Friday evening (05.10.12) in Berlin. Three well taken goals after the break saw the Berliners gain partial revenge for their two losses against 1860 in Bundesliga 2 two years ago.
Berlin boss Jos Luhukay was forced to make several changes to his side which drew 2-1 in Duisburg last time out: Bastians and Hubnik were ruled out through injury, while Ronny and Wagner reverted to the bench. They were replaced in the team by Marcel Ndjeng, Sami Allagui, John Anthony Brooks and returning captain Niemeyer.
Herthaner impress early on
Despite the torrential rain and strong winds which greeted the teams as they emerged from the tunnel, the home side took the early initiative against the visitors who were unbeaten in the league before kick off. After only two minutes Holland found Ramos with an accurate cross, but the Columbian forward aimed his shot too high, and former Hertha cult-keeper Gabor Kiraly between the München posts was able to watch the ball fly high and wide of target. Two minutes later Hertha threatened again as 1860 lost possession going forward. Kluge and Niemeyer combined well to set up Ben-Hatira who found some space, but put his shot from an acute angle into the side netting (9.). The visitors wasted a corner kick and Hertha swithched immediately from defence to attack. Ben-Hatira played a fine ball to Ramos but Kiraly stretched to superbly tip the effort around his right hand post (12.).
München's first chance was a good one. A mistake in the Hertha defence allowed former HSV and Germany striker Lauth to let fly from 20 metres out. Luckily for the home side keeper Thomas Kraft did well to tip the effort onto a post and out of danger (22.). Then Pekarik crossed from right midfield onto the head of Ramos, who headed the ball agonisingly wide of goal. On 36 minutes 1860 veteran Bierofka sent a crisp shot flashing wide of the far post. Minutes afterwards Kiraly showed why he is statistically the best keeper in the deivision by acrobatically fishing a well struck Ndjeng out of the top right hand corner (40.). Hertha were counting their lucky stars a couple of minutes before the break, as Lauth lost control of the greasy ball while advancing on his own on Kraft. The game was goalless at halftime.
Double whammy sees Hertha take control
The game took a while to get going as the second half began, but when it did it was fireworks all the way. Allagui did well to reach the byline from where he crossed into the middle. The visiting defence needed a last ditch challenge to prevent Kluge from opening the scoring on 55 minutes. Moments later the deadlock was finally broken as Ndjeng crossed onto the head of Ramos, who nodded his second goal of the season beyond Kiraly and into the far corner of the net. Hertha won possession from the restart and struck again, as Ramos perfectly timed his pass into the path of Ben-Hatira, who slotted the ball past Kiraly and into the net to double Hertha's lead. What a sixty seconds!
Hertha understandably dropped down a gear or two after that double whammy. Not much was happening for the visitors regarding goalmouth action. Ronny then replaced luckless Allagui. The Brazilian tried his luck from 30 metres but the effort was easily dealt with by the visiting keeper (71.). Six minutes later Kluge threaded a dream through ball into the path of Ben-Hatira, who chipped the ball over the despairing Kiraly, who got his fingertips to the ball but could not prevent it from going in to put Hertha three goals to the good (77.). Kiraly then did well to keep a curling Ronny free kick out to prevent his former team scoring again (80.). It was Hertha's best performance of the season so far. They made a side who were in third place in the table took hapless at best. The win saw the capital city side move into second place in the table. That will probably change over the weekend but who cares. After the break for international games, Hertha resume their campaign with a tricky away game at VfL Bochum.
Berlin boss Jos Luhukay was forced to make several changes to his side which drew 2-1 in Duisburg last time out: Bastians and Hubnik were ruled out through injury, while Ronny and Wagner reverted to the bench. They were replaced in the team by Marcel Ndjeng, Sami Allagui, John Anthony Brooks and returning captain Niemeyer.
Herthaner impress early on
Despite the torrential rain and strong winds which greeted the teams as they emerged from the tunnel, the home side took the early initiative against the visitors who were unbeaten in the league before kick off. After only two minutes Holland found Ramos with an accurate cross, but the Columbian forward aimed his shot too high, and former Hertha cult-keeper Gabor Kiraly between the München posts was able to watch the ball fly high and wide of target. Two minutes later Hertha threatened again as 1860 lost possession going forward. Kluge and Niemeyer combined well to set up Ben-Hatira who found some space, but put his shot from an acute angle into the side netting (9.). The visitors wasted a corner kick and Hertha swithched immediately from defence to attack. Ben-Hatira played a fine ball to Ramos but Kiraly stretched to superbly tip the effort around his right hand post (12.).
München's first chance was a good one. A mistake in the Hertha defence allowed former HSV and Germany striker Lauth to let fly from 20 metres out. Luckily for the home side keeper Thomas Kraft did well to tip the effort onto a post and out of danger (22.). Then Pekarik crossed from right midfield onto the head of Ramos, who headed the ball agonisingly wide of goal. On 36 minutes 1860 veteran Bierofka sent a crisp shot flashing wide of the far post. Minutes afterwards Kiraly showed why he is statistically the best keeper in the deivision by acrobatically fishing a well struck Ndjeng out of the top right hand corner (40.). Hertha were counting their lucky stars a couple of minutes before the break, as Lauth lost control of the greasy ball while advancing on his own on Kraft. The game was goalless at halftime.
Double whammy sees Hertha take control
The game took a while to get going as the second half began, but when it did it was fireworks all the way. Allagui did well to reach the byline from where he crossed into the middle. The visiting defence needed a last ditch challenge to prevent Kluge from opening the scoring on 55 minutes. Moments later the deadlock was finally broken as Ndjeng crossed onto the head of Ramos, who nodded his second goal of the season beyond Kiraly and into the far corner of the net. Hertha won possession from the restart and struck again, as Ramos perfectly timed his pass into the path of Ben-Hatira, who slotted the ball past Kiraly and into the net to double Hertha's lead. What a sixty seconds!
Hertha understandably dropped down a gear or two after that double whammy. Not much was happening for the visitors regarding goalmouth action. Ronny then replaced luckless Allagui. The Brazilian tried his luck from 30 metres but the effort was easily dealt with by the visiting keeper (71.). Six minutes later Kluge threaded a dream through ball into the path of Ben-Hatira, who chipped the ball over the despairing Kiraly, who got his fingertips to the ball but could not prevent it from going in to put Hertha three goals to the good (77.). Kiraly then did well to keep a curling Ronny free kick out to prevent his former team scoring again (80.). It was Hertha's best performance of the season so far. They made a side who were in third place in the table took hapless at best. The win saw the capital city side move into second place in the table. That will probably change over the weekend but who cares. After the break for international games, Hertha resume their campaign with a tricky away game at VfL Bochum.