Teams | November 26, 2012 at 01:23 AM
Superb 4-0 victory over Erzgebirge Aue
Superb 4-0 victory over Erzgebirge Aue
Adrian Ramos opened the scoring after only 24 seconds.
Bundesliga matchday 15 saw Hertha travel to Erzgebirge Aue on Sunday afternoon (25.11.12). The men from coach Jos Luhukay came away with maximum points following an excellent 4-0 victory. The win closed the gap on leaders Braunschweig to just two points.
Luhukay was forced to reshuffle the side which beat St.Pauli 1-0 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin last time out. Pekarik underwent shoulder surgery in Munich in midweek, so his place at right back went to Marcel Ndjeng. Kluge was sidelined with a stomach bug, so Lustenberger lined up alongside skipper Peter Niemeyer in front of the back four. Roman Hubnik got a rare start alongside Bastians in central defence.
Herthaner make blitz start
The 11,150-strong crowd had hardly taken their seats before home keeper Männel was picking the ball out of his net. A fine cross from Holland was nodded home by Ramos to open the scoring after only 24 seconds. Hertha continued to move forward and threatened again Ramos as headed a corner over the crossbar (3.). Five minutes later Niemeyer doubled Hertha's lead as he headed home a free kick floated into the Aue box by Ronny. On its way to goal the ball was deflected by former Hertha midfielder Oliver Schröder past his own keeper.
The home side had a chance of pulling a goal back from the restart, but Jakub Sylvestre somehow blasted the ball over the goal being kept by Kraft from only a couple of metres out (9.). Hertha dropped down a couple of gears after going two goals ahead and a header by Aue's Hensel from 11 metres out flew wide of goal. Then Ramos pulled the ball back from the byline and crossed into the middle, but Sahar could not reach it with his head (36.). Hertha led 2-0 at the break.
Allagui on target
The opening stages of the second half were plagued with misplaced passes and niggly fouls. On 55 minutes Ronny played a through ball to the feet of Sahar inside the Aue area. The Hertha youngster was unceremoniously brought down by Höfler, and the resulting penalty was slotted home by Ronny into the bottom right hand corner. Hubnik needed a last ditch challenge to thwart Hensel, who would have been one on one with Kraft (58.). Luhukay made three changes, bringing on Mukhtar, Wagner and Allagui for Ronny, Ramos and Schulz.
That decision bore fruit on 74 minutes as Wagner fed Allagui with a sweet through ball. The Tunisian international rounded keeper Männel before sliding the ball home from a tight angle to make it 4-0 to the visitors. Aue did not give up trying. Kraft was forced into a save by Sylvestre (78.), before Bastians deflected a shot by Wiegel from the edge of the area onto his own crossbar (79.). Wagner let fly from 20 metres with a crisp effort which flew narrowly wide of the left hand post. Shortly afterwards the final whistle was blown on a superb Hertha performance which resulted in a well deserved 4-0 victory.
Only two points behind Braunschweig
The Berliners extended their club record unbeaten run to 13 matches, taking full advantage of Braunschweig's 1-3 defeat in Cottbus yesterday. Hertha moved above Kaiserslautern into second place only two points behind Braunschweig. Hertha play their matchday 16 game next Thursday (29.11.12) as they entertain 1. FC Köln at the Olympic stadium in the capital city.
Luhukay was forced to reshuffle the side which beat St.Pauli 1-0 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin last time out. Pekarik underwent shoulder surgery in Munich in midweek, so his place at right back went to Marcel Ndjeng. Kluge was sidelined with a stomach bug, so Lustenberger lined up alongside skipper Peter Niemeyer in front of the back four. Roman Hubnik got a rare start alongside Bastians in central defence.
Herthaner make blitz start
The 11,150-strong crowd had hardly taken their seats before home keeper Männel was picking the ball out of his net. A fine cross from Holland was nodded home by Ramos to open the scoring after only 24 seconds. Hertha continued to move forward and threatened again Ramos as headed a corner over the crossbar (3.). Five minutes later Niemeyer doubled Hertha's lead as he headed home a free kick floated into the Aue box by Ronny. On its way to goal the ball was deflected by former Hertha midfielder Oliver Schröder past his own keeper.
The home side had a chance of pulling a goal back from the restart, but Jakub Sylvestre somehow blasted the ball over the goal being kept by Kraft from only a couple of metres out (9.). Hertha dropped down a couple of gears after going two goals ahead and a header by Aue's Hensel from 11 metres out flew wide of goal. Then Ramos pulled the ball back from the byline and crossed into the middle, but Sahar could not reach it with his head (36.). Hertha led 2-0 at the break.
Allagui on target
The opening stages of the second half were plagued with misplaced passes and niggly fouls. On 55 minutes Ronny played a through ball to the feet of Sahar inside the Aue area. The Hertha youngster was unceremoniously brought down by Höfler, and the resulting penalty was slotted home by Ronny into the bottom right hand corner. Hubnik needed a last ditch challenge to thwart Hensel, who would have been one on one with Kraft (58.). Luhukay made three changes, bringing on Mukhtar, Wagner and Allagui for Ronny, Ramos and Schulz.
That decision bore fruit on 74 minutes as Wagner fed Allagui with a sweet through ball. The Tunisian international rounded keeper Männel before sliding the ball home from a tight angle to make it 4-0 to the visitors. Aue did not give up trying. Kraft was forced into a save by Sylvestre (78.), before Bastians deflected a shot by Wiegel from the edge of the area onto his own crossbar (79.). Wagner let fly from 20 metres with a crisp effort which flew narrowly wide of the left hand post. Shortly afterwards the final whistle was blown on a superb Hertha performance which resulted in a well deserved 4-0 victory.
Only two points behind Braunschweig
The Berliners extended their club record unbeaten run to 13 matches, taking full advantage of Braunschweig's 1-3 defeat in Cottbus yesterday. Hertha moved above Kaiserslautern into second place only two points behind Braunschweig. Hertha play their matchday 16 game next Thursday (29.11.12) as they entertain 1. FC Köln at the Olympic stadium in the capital city.