Teams | January 27, 2014 at 03:30 PM
Hertha lose 0-1 in Frankfurt
Hertha lose 0-1 in Frankfurt
Hertha BSC lost 0-1 in Frankfurt on Bundesliga matchday 18.
Frankfurt - Hertha BSC tasted defeat in the first game since the winter break on Saturday evening (25.01.14), losing 0-1 away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Bundesliga matchday 18. The goal that secured maximum points for the home side came out of the blue on 36 minutes. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay welcomed back Sebastian Langkamp and Johannes van den Bergh to the team and keeper Thomas Kraft once again took his place between the Hertha posts, while Peter Niemeyer replaced Cigerci (Achilles). The home side were glad to welcome back key quartet Aigner, Inui, Meier and Russ, who replaced Anderson (not in squad), Flum (suspended), Joselu and Schröck (both on the bench). New signings Tobias Weis and former Hertha defender Alexander Madlung were on the bench at first.
Both teams looked sluggish after the month-long winter break. After almost a quarter of an hour Hertha threatened first as Per Skjelbred played a high ball into the Frankfurt box where Sami Allagui reached the ball ahead of the advancing home keeper Trapp, but failed to hit the target. Hertha's Tunisian international was in the thick of it again only two minutes later, but after leaving several Eintracht men in his wake, screwed his shot wide of the left hand post (15.). Apart from that, goalmouth action was a real rarity as the teams cancelled each other out in midfield.
Frankfurt score out of the blue
Hertha lacked accuracy in their passing during the opening half. Nico Schulz floated a free kick into the Frankfurt area which was easily gobbled up by the home keeper (29.). The visitors then mounted what looked to be a useful counter attack involving Ramos and Skjelbred, but once again the final pass to handily-placed Schulz lacked accuracy and another rare chance was missed (33.). Frankfurt's Russ then blasted the ball out of his own half and (luckily) into the path of Meier, who capitalised on a defensive mix up, before drawing Kraft and calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net to break the deadlock (36.). Hertha never recovered from that blow out of the blue, and were a goal down as the referee blew time on the first half.
Both teams emerged for the second half unchanged. Hertha threw everything forward in search of an equaliser which gave the home side more room to operate in. A fine diagonal ball found Inui, but Peter Pekarik managed to clear his lines well (52.). Three minutes later Hertha pressed forward again and Allagui played the ball into the area slightly behind Skjelbred, which allowed the home defence to clear the danger (55.). Then Ramos missed a Ronny corner by the merest of margins (63.).
Hertha unlucky in front of goal
Frankfurt stopped venturing forward midway through the second half, preferring to sit back and protect their slender lead. Hertha took the initiative and were unlucky, as match referee Jochen Drees failed to spot a double elbow check on Ramos inside the Frankfurt box. Ronny was so irate he got himself booked (71.). Luhukay then brought on Levan Kobiashvili for Hosogai and Sandro Wagner for Skjelbred in an effort to introduce fresh legs to the fray. Frankfurt continued to concentrate on defence. Ramos had a late chance with a deflected effort from the left edge of the box which ended up buried under the considerable frame of Trapp (89.).
Hertha failed to strike back during the three minutes of time added on, so Frankfurt ran out the slightly fortunate 1-0 winners. Hertha's focus now turns to the matchday 19 home game against Nürnberg next Sunday (02.02.14, 3.30 pm).
Both teams looked sluggish after the month-long winter break. After almost a quarter of an hour Hertha threatened first as Per Skjelbred played a high ball into the Frankfurt box where Sami Allagui reached the ball ahead of the advancing home keeper Trapp, but failed to hit the target. Hertha's Tunisian international was in the thick of it again only two minutes later, but after leaving several Eintracht men in his wake, screwed his shot wide of the left hand post (15.). Apart from that, goalmouth action was a real rarity as the teams cancelled each other out in midfield.
Frankfurt score out of the blue
Hertha lacked accuracy in their passing during the opening half. Nico Schulz floated a free kick into the Frankfurt area which was easily gobbled up by the home keeper (29.). The visitors then mounted what looked to be a useful counter attack involving Ramos and Skjelbred, but once again the final pass to handily-placed Schulz lacked accuracy and another rare chance was missed (33.). Frankfurt's Russ then blasted the ball out of his own half and (luckily) into the path of Meier, who capitalised on a defensive mix up, before drawing Kraft and calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net to break the deadlock (36.). Hertha never recovered from that blow out of the blue, and were a goal down as the referee blew time on the first half.
Both teams emerged for the second half unchanged. Hertha threw everything forward in search of an equaliser which gave the home side more room to operate in. A fine diagonal ball found Inui, but Peter Pekarik managed to clear his lines well (52.). Three minutes later Hertha pressed forward again and Allagui played the ball into the area slightly behind Skjelbred, which allowed the home defence to clear the danger (55.). Then Ramos missed a Ronny corner by the merest of margins (63.).
Hertha unlucky in front of goal
Frankfurt stopped venturing forward midway through the second half, preferring to sit back and protect their slender lead. Hertha took the initiative and were unlucky, as match referee Jochen Drees failed to spot a double elbow check on Ramos inside the Frankfurt box. Ronny was so irate he got himself booked (71.). Luhukay then brought on Levan Kobiashvili for Hosogai and Sandro Wagner for Skjelbred in an effort to introduce fresh legs to the fray. Frankfurt continued to concentrate on defence. Ramos had a late chance with a deflected effort from the left edge of the box which ended up buried under the considerable frame of Trapp (89.).
Hertha failed to strike back during the three minutes of time added on, so Frankfurt ran out the slightly fortunate 1-0 winners. Hertha's focus now turns to the matchday 19 home game against Nürnberg next Sunday (02.02.14, 3.30 pm).