Teams | November 6, 2012 at 03:21 PM
Hertha triumph in Bochum
Hertha triumph in Bochum
A strong second half performance saw Hertha beat VfL Bochum 2-0 away from home on matchday 10.
Hertha took maximum points from their matchday 10 trip to the Ruhr Valley on Friday evening (19.10.12). The capital city side extended their unbeaten run to eight games, following a richly-deserved 2-0 victory over VfL Bochum. This latest win takes Hertha up to second place in the Bundesliga 2 table.
Berlin boss Jos Luhukay made only one change to his team which so comprehensively beat 1860 München before the break for international games: In midfield Sami Allagui made way for Ronny, who had recovered in time from a flu bug to start in Bochum. Young defender Felix Bastians resumed first team training following a knee injury this week, but did not make the starting line-up.
Tough opening half
The home side won an early free kick in a promising position. Georgian veteran Alexander Iashvilli took it, but Swiss midfielder Fabian Lustenberger cleared the danger for Hertha, who began to mount counter attacks. Fabian Holland did well to win the ball before finding Ronny with his pass. The Brazilian in turn tried to find Adrian Ramos, but the Columbian failed to reach his pass by a whisker. Hertha began to assume control but had to be wary of long balls being played into their half by the home side.
Fabian Holland, who had a fine game at left back, was forced to change his attire after colliding with Bochum veteran Slavo Freier. The young Berliner had a head wound bandaged and played on with a „turban“ (13.). It took Hertha 17 minutes before they threatened the home goal with a real chance. Kluge broke down the right from where he played a ball into the path of Pekarik. He reached the byline and crossed into the middle where Adrian Ramos and Änis Ben-Hatira were lurking. Luckily for VfL their defender Lukas Sinkiewicz was able to clear the danger with a last ditch lunge.
Kluge breaks the deadlock
The game was then played out in midfield for a while with neither side posing any problems for the opposing defence. On 38 minutes though a low shot by Kluge missed the far post by a millimetre. Then Ramos failed to reach a Ronny through ball on the stroke of halftime, and the game was goalless at the break.
Referee Florian Meyer had barely blown his whistle for the start of the second half before the home side found themselves a goal behind. Ronny fed Kluge advancing into the left side of the Bochum box, from where he left two defenders in his wake before drilling a low right foot shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net (46.).
Hertha almost made it a double whammy moments later as substitute Nico Schulz lost a one on one battle with Bochum keeper Luthe. Then Bochum's Leon Goretzka fired a shot agonisingly wide of the far post with Berlin stopper Kraft well beaten (55.).
Ndjeng sews game up
After that scare the visitors began to take the initiative again, although they were unable to turn the majority of possession they enjoyed into goalmouth action at first. As the final fifteen minutes of the game began Hertha pushed forward in search of a second goal which would surely have broken Bochum's stubborn resistance. On 80 minutes Bochum defender Mounir Chaftar was irritated by a whistle blown from the crowd. Adrian Ramos pounced on the ball near the byline and found Marcel Ndjeng. Hertha's number eight superbly curled the ball into the top left hand corner of the net with the outside of his boot, what a strike! Hertha were of course from then on in the driving seat.
Sandro Wagner could have made it 3-0, but the substitute striker missed a penalty two minutes into stoppage time, after Ndjeng had been brought down inside the Bochum box. The final whistle sounded and Hertha's players celebrated victory with their travelling fans.
On Saturday (27.9.12, 13.00 CET), Hertha make the short tip to Braunschweig to take on the current Bundesliga 2 leaders Eintracht Braunschweig.
Berlin boss Jos Luhukay made only one change to his team which so comprehensively beat 1860 München before the break for international games: In midfield Sami Allagui made way for Ronny, who had recovered in time from a flu bug to start in Bochum. Young defender Felix Bastians resumed first team training following a knee injury this week, but did not make the starting line-up.
Tough opening half
The home side won an early free kick in a promising position. Georgian veteran Alexander Iashvilli took it, but Swiss midfielder Fabian Lustenberger cleared the danger for Hertha, who began to mount counter attacks. Fabian Holland did well to win the ball before finding Ronny with his pass. The Brazilian in turn tried to find Adrian Ramos, but the Columbian failed to reach his pass by a whisker. Hertha began to assume control but had to be wary of long balls being played into their half by the home side.
Fabian Holland, who had a fine game at left back, was forced to change his attire after colliding with Bochum veteran Slavo Freier. The young Berliner had a head wound bandaged and played on with a „turban“ (13.). It took Hertha 17 minutes before they threatened the home goal with a real chance. Kluge broke down the right from where he played a ball into the path of Pekarik. He reached the byline and crossed into the middle where Adrian Ramos and Änis Ben-Hatira were lurking. Luckily for VfL their defender Lukas Sinkiewicz was able to clear the danger with a last ditch lunge.
Kluge breaks the deadlock
The game was then played out in midfield for a while with neither side posing any problems for the opposing defence. On 38 minutes though a low shot by Kluge missed the far post by a millimetre. Then Ramos failed to reach a Ronny through ball on the stroke of halftime, and the game was goalless at the break.
Referee Florian Meyer had barely blown his whistle for the start of the second half before the home side found themselves a goal behind. Ronny fed Kluge advancing into the left side of the Bochum box, from where he left two defenders in his wake before drilling a low right foot shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net (46.).
Hertha almost made it a double whammy moments later as substitute Nico Schulz lost a one on one battle with Bochum keeper Luthe. Then Bochum's Leon Goretzka fired a shot agonisingly wide of the far post with Berlin stopper Kraft well beaten (55.).
Ndjeng sews game up
After that scare the visitors began to take the initiative again, although they were unable to turn the majority of possession they enjoyed into goalmouth action at first. As the final fifteen minutes of the game began Hertha pushed forward in search of a second goal which would surely have broken Bochum's stubborn resistance. On 80 minutes Bochum defender Mounir Chaftar was irritated by a whistle blown from the crowd. Adrian Ramos pounced on the ball near the byline and found Marcel Ndjeng. Hertha's number eight superbly curled the ball into the top left hand corner of the net with the outside of his boot, what a strike! Hertha were of course from then on in the driving seat.
Sandro Wagner could have made it 3-0, but the substitute striker missed a penalty two minutes into stoppage time, after Ndjeng had been brought down inside the Bochum box. The final whistle sounded and Hertha's players celebrated victory with their travelling fans.
On Saturday (27.9.12, 13.00 CET), Hertha make the short tip to Braunschweig to take on the current Bundesliga 2 leaders Eintracht Braunschweig.