Teams | March 23, 2014 at 08:14 PM
Painful loss in Gladbach
Painful loss in Gladbach
Hertha lost 0-3 at Borussia Mönchengladbach on matchday 26.
Mönchengladbach - The start of a three games in only six day period began with defeat, as Hertha lost 0-3 away to Gladbach under former Hertha coach Lucien Favre on Saturday evening (25.03.14). Fifteen minuts of total dominance was enough to seal all three points against the capital city visitors. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay made four changes to the team which lost 0-3 at home to Hannover 96 last time out: Sami Allagui, Änis Ben-Hatira, John Anthony Brooks and Johannes van den Bergh got the nod over Holland, Schulz, Skjelbred and Kobiashvili, who didn't even travel to Gladbach. With Lustenberger and Kobiashvili missing the armband was worn by Peter Pekarik. Lucien Favre replaced suspended Norwegian Havard Nordveidt with Tony Jantschke.
Hertha playing in their usual red and blacked striped kit looked useful enough at first, but once again looked harmless in front of goal, so home keeper Ter Stegen was not troubled at first. The home side had the best early chance as Patrick Herrmann broke through down the right from where he passed inside to Max Kruse, whose shot landed on top of Hertha's net (5.). Ronny let fly with a free kick which found no takers inside the Gladbach box, allowing Ter Stegen to gather the ball easily (10.). Midway through the first half Ronny won possession in midfield. He fed Ramos who in turn passed to Ben-Hatira inside the area. But the Tunusian somehow managed to push his effort wide of goal while unchallenged (20.).
Double whammy too much for Hertha
Then the home side who had hardly threatened the opposing goal until then struck twice out of the blue in a three minute period. Firstly Herrmann crossed into the Berlin box from the right, where Juan Arango left Hertha keeper Thomas Kraft no chance with a fine low shot into the bottom right hand corner (28.) Arango then crossed into the area where Kruse met the ball with his head to make it 2-0 to Gladbach (31.). The visitors looked shell shocked and Gladbach took full advantage. On 40 minutes following a sweet one two with Kruse, former Hertha man Raffael delicately lifted the ball past Kraft and into the net giving Gladbach a 3-0 halftime advantage.
Jos Luhukay did not make any changes during the break. Borussia created the opening chance of the second half as defender Martin Stranzl nodded a corner onto the left hand upright (52.). Hertha ventured forward on the odd occasion but were unable to find any potency in the final third. At the other end Arango blasted a fierce free kick from 30 metres towards goal. Luckily for Hertha Kraft was on his guard to tip the ball away for a corner (64.). Five minutes later Ronny found Allagui inside the Gladbach box, but his square ball inside found no takers (69.).
Langkamp out of Bayern clash
Luhukay then introduced fresh legs to the fray: Christoph Janker came on in place of Hajime Hosogai, before Sandro Wagner replaced Ramos for the latter stages of the game. The home side seemed content to sit back and protect their considerable lead, but Hertha were not able to make use of the extra space given to them. Wagner failed to connect at a corner (84.), and then a long distance pot by van den Bergh was easily dealt with by the home keeper. Then time was blown on the matchday 26 encounter which Hertha simply deserved to lose.
Hertha are in action again on Tuesday night (25.03.14), as all-conquering Bayern Munich visit the Olympic stadium in Berlin for a sold out matchday 27 clash. One man already ruled out of that game is Sebastian Langkamp, who picked up a fifth booking in Gladbach and must serve a one-game suspension.
Hertha playing in their usual red and blacked striped kit looked useful enough at first, but once again looked harmless in front of goal, so home keeper Ter Stegen was not troubled at first. The home side had the best early chance as Patrick Herrmann broke through down the right from where he passed inside to Max Kruse, whose shot landed on top of Hertha's net (5.). Ronny let fly with a free kick which found no takers inside the Gladbach box, allowing Ter Stegen to gather the ball easily (10.). Midway through the first half Ronny won possession in midfield. He fed Ramos who in turn passed to Ben-Hatira inside the area. But the Tunusian somehow managed to push his effort wide of goal while unchallenged (20.).
Double whammy too much for Hertha
Then the home side who had hardly threatened the opposing goal until then struck twice out of the blue in a three minute period. Firstly Herrmann crossed into the Berlin box from the right, where Juan Arango left Hertha keeper Thomas Kraft no chance with a fine low shot into the bottom right hand corner (28.) Arango then crossed into the area where Kruse met the ball with his head to make it 2-0 to Gladbach (31.). The visitors looked shell shocked and Gladbach took full advantage. On 40 minutes following a sweet one two with Kruse, former Hertha man Raffael delicately lifted the ball past Kraft and into the net giving Gladbach a 3-0 halftime advantage.
Jos Luhukay did not make any changes during the break. Borussia created the opening chance of the second half as defender Martin Stranzl nodded a corner onto the left hand upright (52.). Hertha ventured forward on the odd occasion but were unable to find any potency in the final third. At the other end Arango blasted a fierce free kick from 30 metres towards goal. Luckily for Hertha Kraft was on his guard to tip the ball away for a corner (64.). Five minutes later Ronny found Allagui inside the Gladbach box, but his square ball inside found no takers (69.).
Langkamp out of Bayern clash
Luhukay then introduced fresh legs to the fray: Christoph Janker came on in place of Hajime Hosogai, before Sandro Wagner replaced Ramos for the latter stages of the game. The home side seemed content to sit back and protect their considerable lead, but Hertha were not able to make use of the extra space given to them. Wagner failed to connect at a corner (84.), and then a long distance pot by van den Bergh was easily dealt with by the home keeper. Then time was blown on the matchday 26 encounter which Hertha simply deserved to lose.
Hertha are in action again on Tuesday night (25.03.14), as all-conquering Bayern Munich visit the Olympic stadium in Berlin for a sold out matchday 27 clash. One man already ruled out of that game is Sebastian Langkamp, who picked up a fifth booking in Gladbach and must serve a one-game suspension.