Not bad – but this time, not good enough
Not bad – but this time, not good enough
The first loss of the season is frustrating, but not the end of the world, especially as Hertha BSC were coming up against an particularly good side.
Dortmund – stay compact, stop the flow of the opponents’ passing game and break on the counter: Hertha’s game plan in the first away match of the season was clear. Nevertheless, sometimes even the best tactics don’t pay off when something goes wrong early on, and that is exactly what happened in Hertha’s 2-0 loss to Dortmund on Saturday evening (26.08) by the way of an early conceded goal. “Our plan was to give Dortmund no room, to not let them play their game, but unfortunately we conceded that early goal, which threw a spanner in the works. We simply didn’t defend well at that moment,” said Pál Dárdai of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal in the 15th minute.
The goal was the first moment in the match when the team from the capital had a momentary lapse from a strong defensive line-up. “Despite that goal we defended well and didn’t let a lot get through us,” Mitchell Weiser commented. However the Blue and Whites are not completely pleased with their performance. “We didn’t press the way we wanted to,” reflected Sebastian Langkamp. Two goal-scoring opportunities through Mathew Leckie and Vladimir Darida were also wasted. “We were missing just that little bit extra to match Dortmund in certain areas. We also realised how good a team they are,” said Per Skjelbred afterwards.
A point to improve on
After the break, Hertha continued to stick to their tactics and fought for every ball, however as soon as the fans began to fee l as if the Blue and Whites might draw an equaliser, Dortmund’s scored their second, Nuri Sahin bagging a screamer from 17 metres out in the 58th minute. It almost seemed the inevitable, given that Dortmund have won 31 of their past 38 home games (with seven draws). “We wanted to play quickly out from the back in the last half an hour and get the ball into dangerous areas, but it just wasn’t enough. We have to accept that,” said Dárdai.
The will of the players could not be faulted though. Hertha did have to pull one goal back mid way through the second half chances through Langkamp and Darida but it wasn’t to be. “Unfortunately we lacked accuracy in the vital moments. It’s a shame that we didn’t pull one back – it would have made things interesting.”
The score line may be tough on Hertha but the result stands. “We didn’t play badly, we just weren’t not good enough for Dortmund,” concluded Langkamp. The Bundesliga is now off for the first international break of the season and 14 Hertha players have been called up to represent their national sides. The next league match is against Werder Bremen on September 10th. Skjelbred looks forward to the match with a message to the Hertha fans, “We’ll come back strong!”