Teams | April 28, 2014 at 12:54 PM
2-0! Home win at last!
2-0! Home win at last!
Brooks and Allagui scored in Hertha's first home win of 2014.
Berlin - About time too! Hertha finally won their first home game of 2014 with a well deserved 2-0 victory over bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig, in front of a bumper crowd of 51,953 at the Olympic stadium on Saturday afternoon (26.04.14). Home coach Jos Luhukay made just one change to the team which drew 0-0 in Augsburg last weekend. That change was a very positive one for Hertha fans to say the least. Much-missed Alexander Baumjohann made his first start at the expense of Marcell Ndjeng, after recovering from shattered cruciate ligaments which had kept him sidelined for several months. Top scorer Adrian Ramos was on the bench at first. Braunschweig welcomed back Bicakcic from suspension and also and Correia. Henn and Dogan made room for them in the starting line-up.
Perfect conditions and a good atmosphere greeted the teams as they emerged from the tunnel. The first action of any note came on 6 minutes through Sami Allagui, whose bicycle kick missed the target. At the other end Hertha's Johannes van den Bergh blocked an effort from Braunschweig's dangerman Domi Kumbela (8.). The home side then began to get on top of matters. Tolga Cigerci let fly from distance twice to no avail (9.), although his second effort forced a save from Eintracht keeper Daniel Davari (10.). Luhukay's men were often first to the ball which prevented the visitors from settling into the game.
Brooks breaks the deadlock
The visiotrs „parked the bus“ as expected so the home side had to be patient. When they did create chances they usually looked dangerous. Sandro Wagner missed a pinpoint cross from the right by Baumjohann by only a whisker (24.). Moments later Baumjohann latched onto a short clearance by Davari, before crossing into the middle where Omar Elabdellaoui needed a last ditch clearance to deny Sami Allagui who was about to pull the trigger (25.). Braunschweig showed little going forward, although their skipper Dennis Kruppke did get a shot away from an acute angle but missed the target by a mile (40.). After Baumjohann had fired wide from 20 metres (42.), Hertha missed a gilt-edged scoring chance which would have seen them ahead at the break, but after Wagner had found Baumjohann, the latter lost out in a one on one situation with Davari (44.). The game was goalless at halftime.
The visitors emerged for the second half a little more attack-minded than they had been before the break. Second half substitute Karim Bellarabi played a sweet diagonal through ball to the feet of Kumbela, who lost out while bearing down on his own against Hertha stopper Kraft (49.). Hertha upped their game and threatened once again as Skjelbred found Cigerci, whose shot on the turn was well saved by Davari (53.). Hertha finally got their just rewards after Davari turned away a blockbuster by Wagner around a post for a corner (59.). That corner from the right reached John Anthony Brooks, who didn't strike the ball properly but it still hit the back of the Braunschweig net to put the home side ahead (61.).
Allagui seals home win
Luhukay brought on extra fire power in Ramos and Ronny, who replaced hard working duo Wagner and Skjelbred. Ronny was in action right away, forcing Davari to tip a fierce free kick around his post (71.). A promising counter attack involving Ramos and Ronny ended in a harmless shot by Allagui from an acute angle (74.). Ramos had hoped to add to his impressive season tally of 16 goals but Davari reached both of his efforts. The second one was however only parried into the path of Allagui who doubled Hertha's lead with a low shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net (77.). Braunschweig threw everything forward but the home defence was in miserly mood.
A swift counter attack involving Allagui and Ramos saw the Dortmund-bound Columbian forward miss the target from a tight angle (87.). A minute from full time Kumbela somehow missed from point blank range with the goal at his mercy. Hertha ran out the desrved 2-0 winners, finally recording their first home win of 2014. The capital city side play their final away game of the season next Saturday (03.05.14, 3.30 pm) as they travel north to take on Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion on the penultimate matchday of the season.
Perfect conditions and a good atmosphere greeted the teams as they emerged from the tunnel. The first action of any note came on 6 minutes through Sami Allagui, whose bicycle kick missed the target. At the other end Hertha's Johannes van den Bergh blocked an effort from Braunschweig's dangerman Domi Kumbela (8.). The home side then began to get on top of matters. Tolga Cigerci let fly from distance twice to no avail (9.), although his second effort forced a save from Eintracht keeper Daniel Davari (10.). Luhukay's men were often first to the ball which prevented the visitors from settling into the game.
Brooks breaks the deadlock
The visiotrs „parked the bus“ as expected so the home side had to be patient. When they did create chances they usually looked dangerous. Sandro Wagner missed a pinpoint cross from the right by Baumjohann by only a whisker (24.). Moments later Baumjohann latched onto a short clearance by Davari, before crossing into the middle where Omar Elabdellaoui needed a last ditch clearance to deny Sami Allagui who was about to pull the trigger (25.). Braunschweig showed little going forward, although their skipper Dennis Kruppke did get a shot away from an acute angle but missed the target by a mile (40.). After Baumjohann had fired wide from 20 metres (42.), Hertha missed a gilt-edged scoring chance which would have seen them ahead at the break, but after Wagner had found Baumjohann, the latter lost out in a one on one situation with Davari (44.). The game was goalless at halftime.
The visitors emerged for the second half a little more attack-minded than they had been before the break. Second half substitute Karim Bellarabi played a sweet diagonal through ball to the feet of Kumbela, who lost out while bearing down on his own against Hertha stopper Kraft (49.). Hertha upped their game and threatened once again as Skjelbred found Cigerci, whose shot on the turn was well saved by Davari (53.). Hertha finally got their just rewards after Davari turned away a blockbuster by Wagner around a post for a corner (59.). That corner from the right reached John Anthony Brooks, who didn't strike the ball properly but it still hit the back of the Braunschweig net to put the home side ahead (61.).
Allagui seals home win
Luhukay brought on extra fire power in Ramos and Ronny, who replaced hard working duo Wagner and Skjelbred. Ronny was in action right away, forcing Davari to tip a fierce free kick around his post (71.). A promising counter attack involving Ramos and Ronny ended in a harmless shot by Allagui from an acute angle (74.). Ramos had hoped to add to his impressive season tally of 16 goals but Davari reached both of his efforts. The second one was however only parried into the path of Allagui who doubled Hertha's lead with a low shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net (77.). Braunschweig threw everything forward but the home defence was in miserly mood.
A swift counter attack involving Allagui and Ramos saw the Dortmund-bound Columbian forward miss the target from a tight angle (87.). A minute from full time Kumbela somehow missed from point blank range with the goal at his mercy. Hertha ran out the desrved 2-0 winners, finally recording their first home win of 2014. The capital city side play their final away game of the season next Saturday (03.05.14, 3.30 pm) as they travel north to take on Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion on the penultimate matchday of the season.