Hertha beaten 2-0 in Dortmund.

Strikes from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nuri Sahin saw Hertha come away from their first Bundesliga away trip of the season in Dortmund empty handed.

Line-up

Pal Dardai made one change from the side who beat Stutggart last week by bringing Niklas Stark into the side at the expense of Alex Esswein. The plan was to create a more defensively stable line-up. Vladimir Darida pushed further forward to support Vedad Ibisevic in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Match summary

Dortmund started stronger with the home advantage and pressed early in front of a packed stadium. Keeping the ball and looking to get forward, Hertha were forced to stay strong. Unfortunately, the resistance only lasted 15 minutes, and Pierre-Emerick Aubaymeyang slotted home a cross from the right on the quarter hour mark. The visitors responded but Darida was unable to divert his effort on target after good work from Mitchell Weiser down the right wing. The deficit at half time could have been larger too, were it not for Rune Jarstein’s superb stop from Christian Pulisic.

The second half was an even tighter affair, and the boys in Blue and White continued to probe forward searching for an equalizer. Unfortunately, it was the hosts who struck next against the run of play, as Nuri Sahin smashed in a second from outside the box before the hour. As Ibisevic and Salomon Kalou, who was playing his 100th game for Hertha, made way for Genki Haraguchi and Alex Esswein Hertha began to have their best period of play. Mathew Leckie and Mitchell Weiser combined well down the right, but Darida’s cheeky flick failed to stay on target. The forward had another chance late on, but could not curl his shot on target from the edge of the box.

Conclusion and Overview

The Blue and Whites finish the day in eighth place in the table, with one win and a loss from two matches. There will now be now be an international break next weekend, before the Bundesliga returns in two weekends time with a home game against Werder Bremen on Sunday August 10th.

Line-up

Pal Dardai made one change from the side who beat Stutggart last week by bringing Niklas Stark into the side at the expense of Alex Esswein. The plan was to create a more defensively stable line-up. Vladimir Darida pushed further forward to support Vedad Ibisevic in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Match summary

Dortmund started stronger with the home advantage and pressed early in front of a packed stadium. Keeping the ball and looking to get forward, Hertha were forced to stay strong. Unfortunately, the resistance only lasted 15 minutes, and Pierre-Emerick Aubaymeyang slotted home a cross from the right on the quarter hour mark. The visitors responded but Darida was unable to divert his effort on target after good work from Mitchell Weiser down the right wing. The deficit at half time could have been larger too, were it not for Rune Jarstein’s superb stop from Christian Pulisic.The second half was an even tighter affair, and the boys in Blue and White continued to probe forward searching for an equalizer. Unfortunately, it was the hosts who struck next against the run of play, as Nuri Sahin smashed in a second from outside the box before the hour. As Ibisevic and Salomon Kalou, who was playing his 100th game for Hertha, made way for Genki Haraguchi and Alex Esswein Hertha began to have their best period of play. Mathew Leckie and Mitchell Weiser combined well down the right, but Darida’s cheeky flick failed to stay on target. The forward had another chance late on, but could not curl his shot on target from the edge of the box.

Conclusion and Overview

The Blue and Whites finish the day in eighth place in the table, with one win and a loss from two matches. There will now be now be an international break next weekend, before the Bundesliga returns in two weekends time with a home game against Werder Bremen on Sunday August 10th.