4-0! Hertha triumph in Darmstadt

Darmstadt - Hertha easily beat newly-promoted Darmstadt 4-0 in front of a 17,000-strong capacity crowd at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor in Darmstadt on Saturday afternoon (12.12.15). Vedad Ibisevic (12.,50.), Marvin Plattenhardt (26.) ad Salomon Kalou (77.) were on target for the impressive visitors.
 
After beating Bayer Leverkusen at home last weekend Hertha boss Pal Dardai welcomed back Sebastian Langkamp to the heart of the Berlin defence from suspension. Captain Fabian Lustenberger reverted to defensive midfield alongside Per Skjelbred, while Genki Haraguchi sat on the bench. Darmstadt also made a singe change to the side which won their derby against Frankfurt on matchday 16. Former Hertha captain Peter Niemeyer missed facing his former club through suspension so Garics replaced him at right back while Jungwirth operated in front of his back four.

The visitors began brightly and had easily more of the ball. Darmstadt camped out in their own half early on and struggled to find a way into the game at first. The fist chance of the game fell to Hertha as Vedad Ibisevic drilled a shot well wide of target. The striker went one better only three minutes later as he netted after being played in by Mitchell Weiser (12.). Marvin Plattenhardt superbly doubled Hertha’s lead on 26 minutes. The left back wonderfully curled a 25 metre free kick over the defensive wall and into the net with the home keeper powerless to stop it. The home side tried their luck by pumping long balls forward but the Berlin defence was in miserly mood. Hertha stopper Rune Jarstein was only called into action once during the opening half, and that was to keep out a wayward header from his team mate Langkamp on the stroke of half time. Hertha deservedly led 2-0 at the break.
 
The home side appeared determined as they emerged for the second half, but Hertha made it 3-0 after 50 minutes as a Plattehardt corner was headed into the path by Brooks to Ibisevic who completed his brace without any problem. The home side tried their best but Hertha’s classy defence could not be breached. Then Berlin substitute Johannes van den Bergh nicely found Salomon Kalou who scored his 8th goal of the season to put the game beyond the hosts (77.). Valentin Stocker was brought on by Dardai and should have scored after rounding home keeper Mathenia only to see his effort scraped off the line by Jungwirth.

The capital city side are in action again on Wednesday (16.12.15, 7.00 PM) away to Nürnberg in the DFB Cup The final league game of the year sees Hertha host in-form Mainz at the Olympic stadium in Berlin next Sunday (20.12.15, 3.30 PM).

(rd,lb/City-Press)