Home win against Leverkusen

Hertha continued their strong start to the season at home with a 2-1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Wednesday night.

Berlin- It was a deserved victory. A blue wave washed over the Olympistadion in the first half as Hertha found themselves in full flow early on. Mathew Leckie’s wonderful curling shot opened the floodgates, and Salomon Kalou nodded in a second moments later as Hertha looked like they might rain down goals on the visitors before half time.

Leverkusen weathered the storm and looked stronger in the second period, setting up a nervy finish when Julian Brandt’s shot from distance was deflected in past Rune Jarstein in the home goal.

Berlin- It was a deserved victory. A blue wave washed over the Olympistadion in the first half as Hertha found themselves in full flow early on. Mathew Leckie’s wonderful curling shot opened the floodgates, and Salomon Kalou nodded in a second moments later as Hertha looked like they might rain down goals on the visitors before half time.Leverkusen weathered the storm and looked stronger in the second period, setting up a nervy finish when Julian Brandt’s shot from distance was deflected in past Rune Jarstein in the home goal.

Pal Dardai made four changes from the side who started against Hoffenheim at the weekend, Alex Esswein, Fabian Lustenberger. Sebastian Langkamp and Peter Pekarik all took their place on the bench as Captain Vedad Ibisevic, Salomon Kalou, Vladimir Darida and Mitchell Weiser all returned to the side.

After an early chance for Brandt was punched away by Jarstein, Hertha took control and looked like getting more than the two goals they were rewarded with by half-time. Leckie was crowded out when bearing down on goal early on while Ondrej Duda flashed a half volley wide from a corner. The opener can just after the quarter hour mark when Leckie curled in his fourth in five games from the edge of the box. Eight minutes later and the advantage was doubled. Ibisevic chased down a through ball before leaving goalkeeper Bernd Leno flapping at air on the byline and crossing for Salomon Kalou to grab his first goal of the campaign. Dardai’s side was dominant for the rest of the half, and Plattenhardt or captain Ibisevic could have added to the scoreline before the break.

The second half was a quieter affair, with Hertha happy to keep the ball among themselves and simply shut the visitors out. Leverkusen were unable to create any real clear cut chances against a rock solid Hertha back line until the latter stages. When Leverkusen did break through they found Jarstein in superb form, as the Norweigen number 1 blocked Bailey’s shot at his near post. It took a huge slice of fortune to set up a tense final few moments, with Brandt’s shot from distance cannoning of a Herth defender and totally wrong-footing Rune. There were a few nervous moments around the Olympiastadion in injury time, but Hertha held on to give Dardai the best possible present on his 100th game in charge

After an early chance for Brandt was punched away by Jarstein, Hertha took control and looked like getting more than the two goals they were rewarded with by half-time. Leckie was crowded out when bearing down on goal early on while Ondrej Duda flashed a half volley wide from a corner. The opener can just after the quarter hour mark when Leckie curled in his fourth in five games from the edge of the box. Eight minutes later and the advantage was doubled. Ibisevic chased down a through ball before leaving goalkeeper Bernd Leno flapping at air on the byline and crossing for Salomon Kalou to grab his first goal of the campaign. Dardai’s side was dominant for the rest of the half, and Plattenhardt or captain Ibisevic could have added to the scoreline before the break.

The second half was a quieter affair, with Hertha happy to keep the ball among themselves and simply shut the visitors out. Leverkusen were unable to create any real clear cut chances against a rock solid Hertha back line until the latter stages. When Leverkusen did break through they found Jarstein in superb form, as the Norweigen number 1 blocked Bailey’s shot at his near post. It took a huge slice of fortune to set up a tense final few moments, with Brandt’s shot from distance cannoning of a Herth defender and totally wrong-footing Rune. There were a few nervous moments around the Olympiastadion in injury time, but Hertha held on to give Dardai the best possible present on his 100th game in charge

Hertha climb to eighth in the table having collected eight points from five games. The next task comes away in Mainz at 15:30CEST on Saturday, when Dardai’s 101st game will see him return to the ground where he had his first game back in 2015.