Teams | April 19, 2014 at 09:51 PM
No goals in Augsburg
No goals in Augsburg
Hertha BSC drew 0-0 away to FC Augsburg on Bundesliga matchday 31.
Augsburg - FC Augsburg and Hertha BSC drew 0-0 on Saturday afternoon (19.04.14). Despite a marked improvement in performance the men under coach Jos Luhukay just couldn't break the deadlock. There was awful news to digest for the visitors before kick off, as captain Fabian Lustenberger picked up another injury during warm up. The Swiss midfielder had been sidelined for months and had hoped to feature in Augsburg. His place in the side went to John Anthony Brooks. Levan Kobiashvili did not travel with the team. The veteran Georgian remained in Berlin for treatment on an ankle problem. Luhukay gave Marcel Ndjeng the nod ahead of Ben-Hatira. Klavan returned from injury to play in central defence for the home side as did Werner. Kohr and Hahn were on the FC bench at first.
Hertha tried to get forward from the off and looked solid at the back too. On 11 minutes Ndjeng was fouled and the resulting free kick was floated into the home box by Tolga Cigerci. Unluckily for the visitors, Sebastian Langkamp's header struck the under side of the crossbar and bounced out again. Langkamp then headed wide only five minutes later (16.) Ndjeng (20./22.) and Cigerci (26.) tried long distance shots but were inaccurate so home keeper Marvin Hitz was hardly troubled. Augsburg's best chance fell to Esswein who curled the ball just wide of target from the edge of the Berlin box (27.).
Ndjeng misses sitter close to the break
At the other end Sami Allagui put a nice cross to of Sandro Wagner lurking at the near post, but Hitz saved well to deny the young striker (29.). Moments later Ndjeng shot again but pulled his shot wide while handily placed (30.). Augsburg created a further chance from another set piece, as a free kick taken by Tobias Werner flew beyond everyone inside the Berlin penalty area and just out of play (39.). On the stroke of halftime Wagner did well to win possession on the left wing, from where he found Johannes van den Bergh, who crossed to Ndjeng who was once again denied by Hitz (45.).
Both teams emerged for the second half unchanged. The first chance of the new half fell to Hertha after nice combination work saw Cigerci get a long distance shot away which was saved by Hitz (49.). Brooks got in a clean header which bounced off the back of an opponent (59.). Hertha kept things tight at the back and won a lot of second ball, but the final telling pass was once again missing from their game. Luhukay brought on Nico Schulz for Allagui who had been booked.
Hertha good in defence
The visitors remained on top but simply couldn't find the back of the net. A 20 metre shot by Cigerci landed on top of the Augsburg goal (69.). Kraft between the Berlin posts was called into action for the fis´´rst time in the second half on 71 minutes to deal with a cross/shot by Matthias Ostrzolek. After Cigerci failed to beat the wall with a direct free kick (74.), the visitors were almost caught out at the other end. Augsburg substitute Raul Bobadilla was bearing down on the Hertha goal, but the men at the back ran back to clear the danger together in the nick of time (75.).
Peter Niemeyer then came on for Ndjeng before Luhukay also brought on Alexander Baumjohann for Skjelbred. The new faces failed to inspire the rest of the team into scoring, so the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Hertha play their second last home game of the season next Saturday (26.04.14), as they face bottom placed Eintracht Braunschweig at the Olympic stadium.
Hertha tried to get forward from the off and looked solid at the back too. On 11 minutes Ndjeng was fouled and the resulting free kick was floated into the home box by Tolga Cigerci. Unluckily for the visitors, Sebastian Langkamp's header struck the under side of the crossbar and bounced out again. Langkamp then headed wide only five minutes later (16.) Ndjeng (20./22.) and Cigerci (26.) tried long distance shots but were inaccurate so home keeper Marvin Hitz was hardly troubled. Augsburg's best chance fell to Esswein who curled the ball just wide of target from the edge of the Berlin box (27.).
Ndjeng misses sitter close to the break
At the other end Sami Allagui put a nice cross to of Sandro Wagner lurking at the near post, but Hitz saved well to deny the young striker (29.). Moments later Ndjeng shot again but pulled his shot wide while handily placed (30.). Augsburg created a further chance from another set piece, as a free kick taken by Tobias Werner flew beyond everyone inside the Berlin penalty area and just out of play (39.). On the stroke of halftime Wagner did well to win possession on the left wing, from where he found Johannes van den Bergh, who crossed to Ndjeng who was once again denied by Hitz (45.).
Both teams emerged for the second half unchanged. The first chance of the new half fell to Hertha after nice combination work saw Cigerci get a long distance shot away which was saved by Hitz (49.). Brooks got in a clean header which bounced off the back of an opponent (59.). Hertha kept things tight at the back and won a lot of second ball, but the final telling pass was once again missing from their game. Luhukay brought on Nico Schulz for Allagui who had been booked.
Hertha good in defence
The visitors remained on top but simply couldn't find the back of the net. A 20 metre shot by Cigerci landed on top of the Augsburg goal (69.). Kraft between the Berlin posts was called into action for the fis´´rst time in the second half on 71 minutes to deal with a cross/shot by Matthias Ostrzolek. After Cigerci failed to beat the wall with a direct free kick (74.), the visitors were almost caught out at the other end. Augsburg substitute Raul Bobadilla was bearing down on the Hertha goal, but the men at the back ran back to clear the danger together in the nick of time (75.).
Peter Niemeyer then came on for Ndjeng before Luhukay also brought on Alexander Baumjohann for Skjelbred. The new faces failed to inspire the rest of the team into scoring, so the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Hertha play their second last home game of the season next Saturday (26.04.14), as they face bottom placed Eintracht Braunschweig at the Olympic stadium.