First team | May 1, 2017 at 02:00 AM
Gifted it to them
Gifted it to them
Hertha made two mistakes which both led to Werder’s early goals in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat in Bremen. However, the capital city club still has three games remaining to achieve its aim of qualifying for the Europa League.
Bremen/Berlin – The Hertha players trudged through the catacombs of the Weser-Stadion understandably disappointed after the 2-0 defeat in Bremen. It was obvious from the faces of the Hertha players that they were frustrated after suffering a ninth consecutive away defeat and particularly angry with manor of the defeat, conceding relatively cheap goals early on meaning it was always going to be an uphill struggle against an in-form Werder side. “We conceded two goals through our own naivety and when you do that, it makes it difficult to win in the Bundesliga,” said Pál Dárdai while his players disappeared into the changing room.
It was a poor opening 15 minutes which cost the Berliners in Bremen. A Hertha free-kick in the opposing half ultimately led to the first goal, as a good one-two between Fin Bartels and Max Kruse ended in a one-on-one with the keeper and Bartels made no mistake. Just six minutes later, a mistake from Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein resulted in Max Kruse slotting the ball into an empty Berlin net. “You can’t excuse this kind of mistake. It just can’t happen,” said the keeper. His teammates refused to place any blame on him, however, “Rune has saved us so often this season. These things can happen,” said Vedad Ibisevic. Sebastian Langkamp said Hertha were architects of their own downfall, “We can’t afford to make these mistakes in the Bundesliga. We gifted it to them,” said the centre-back.
It was a poor opening 15 minutes which cost the Berliners in Bremen. A Hertha free-kick in the opposing half ultimately led to the first goal, as a good one-two between Fin Bartels and Max Kruse ended in a one-on-one with the keeper and Bartels made no mistake. Just six minutes later, a mistake from Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein resulted in Max Kruse slotting the ball into an empty Berlin net. “You can’t excuse this kind of mistake. It just can’t happen,” said the keeper. His teammates refused to place any blame on him, however, “Rune has saved us so often this season. These things can happen,” said Vedad Ibisevic. Sebastian Langkamp said Hertha were architects of their own downfall, “We can’t afford to make these mistakes in the Bundesliga. We gifted it to them,” said the centre-back.
Despite going behind early on, Pál Dárdai’s depleted team, which was missing eight first-team players from the squad, got better as the game went on. Vladimir Darida passed up Hertha’s best opportunity of the first-half in the 36th minute. The Berliners stepped up their pressure in the second-half, but were missing an end product. Salomon Kalou (52‘), Darida (66‘) and Ibisevic (78‘) also missed chances in the second period. „The game was relatively even after the opening 20 minutes and the team gave everything. But it’s not good that we failed to create any real clear-cut opportunities,” said Dárdai, who tried to mix things up by bringing on Ondrej Duda and Genki Haraguchi for Per Skjelbred and Alexander Esswein.
He said...
[>]I said a few weeks ago that we need four more wins and we already have two of those.[<]
It would have made for an exciting finish, had referee Patrick Ittrich pointed to the spot after a clear foul by Sané on Ibisevic in the 82nd minute. However, the Hertha players felt the overall performance still wasn’t good enough: “All in all, we didn’t do enough,” said Langkamp. Captain Ibisevic didn’t want to use the fact that Hertha were forced to play a number of youngsters due to the many injury absentees as a excuse: “Of course the younger players are lacking a little bit of experience, but they all did well.” Along with 19-year-old Jordan Torunarigha and 20-year-olds Allan Souza and Maximilian Mittelstädt, Florian Baak came in for the injured Peter Pekarik to make his Bundesliga debut. “It was an unbelievable feeling to play in the Bundesliga. Even if the result hurts,” said the defensive player who was only born in 1999.
Despite another away defeat, Hertha still remain fifth in the Bundesliga table after matchday 31. The team still has its destiny in its own hands and the aim remains European qualification. “It’s doubly as frustrating that we’ve let a direct competitor gain some ground on us in the table,” said Langkamp. “We need to really focus on the remaining three games, particularly on the home matches.” Dárdai called for his defensive players to put in big performances and also said, “I said a few weeks ago that we need four more win and we already have two of those.”
Hertha’s next opportunity to pick up three points is this Saturday (06/05/17) at home against RB Leipzig. The taining week starts on Tuesday with the first session at 15.30 CEST.
Despite another away defeat, Hertha still remain fifth in the Bundesliga table after matchday 31. The team still has its destiny in its own hands and the aim remains European qualification. “It’s doubly as frustrating that we’ve let a direct competitor gain some ground on us in the table,” said Langkamp. “We need to really focus on the remaining three games, particularly on the home matches.” Dárdai called for his defensive players to put in big performances and also said, “I said a few weeks ago that we need four more win and we already have two of those.”
Hertha’s next opportunity to pick up three points is this Saturday (06/05/17) at home against RB Leipzig. The taining week starts on Tuesday with the first session at 15.30 CEST.