Teams | September 21, 2017 at 02:33 AM

"Important win at an important time"

Important point in Hoffenheim

Hertha players and boss Pal Dardai react to Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Pal Dardai: I am happy we have won. We know what kind of quality they have. We showed in the first half a match winning performance, but we got deeper and deeper when two-nil ahead. We defended well but could have played the final ball better. We need to make more of our counter attacking opportunities because the third goal would have helped. But the boys showed great mentality. He win was very important for us because we are in a crucial stage of the season. Before the international break we have three tough games ahead of us and we want to be successful in all of them.
Mathew Leckie: I’m obviously delighted to score again. But the three points are most important. After the goal we showed a lot of character and got the result we deserved and there was a lot of relief at the final whistle. Football is a strange sport, I barely found the back of the net in previous seasons but everything has come together here in Berlin. I have become a Dad, the coach believes in me and I am scoring regularly at the moment. That was definitely the best goal of my career. 
Marvin Plattenhardt: For us as a team it was a key win. We played well in Hoffenheim but we were worth the three points tonight. We were aggressive, and got the second goal. We were a little bit lax in the second half, but we deserved to get the victory. We prepared well and can be proud. We knew it would not be easy but we have overcome the challenge. 
Karim Rekik: We scored some really great goal in the first half. We backtracked a bit in the second period and let them come onto us. We’ll have to speak again about that to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I enjoyed seeing us play like that. I always try to help the team and I’m glad the coach is pleased with me. Football is my passion and the coach has a vision of how he wants to play football and that suits me well. 
Vedad Ibisevic: I’m so pleased Salomon was able to get on the scoresheet at that it turned out tob e the winner. We planned to pressure them from the get-go and be aggressive, but you can never plan for it to go as well as it did for us. They have a lot of quality, and that’s why it was so close at the end- The last few minutes were a bit unpleasant but it was worth it at the end. Anyone can beat anyone in this league. The fight for those top places is going to be so tough, so we have to make sure we are picking up points as often as possible, This was another step in the right direction. 

Pal Dardai: I am happy we have won. We know what kind of quality they have. We showed in the first half a match winning performance, but we got deeper and deeper when two-nil ahead. We defended well but could have played the final ball better. We need to make more of our counter attacking opportunities because the third goal would have helped. But the boys showed great mentality. He win was very important for us because we are in a crucial stage of the season. Before the international break we have three tough games ahead of us and we want to be successful in all of them.

Mathew Leckie: I’m obviously delighted to score again. But the three points are most important. After the goal we showed a lot of character and got the result we deserved and there was a lot of relief at the final whistle. Football is a strange sport, I barely found the back of the net in previous seasons but everything has come together here in Berlin. I have become a Dad, the coach believes in me and I am scoring regularly at the moment. That was definitely the best goal of my career. 

Marvin Plattenhardt: For us as a team it was a key win. We played well in Hoffenheim but we were worth the three points tonight. We were aggressive, and got the second goal. We were a little bit lax in the second half, but we deserved to get the victory. We prepared well and can be proud. We knew it would not be easy but we have overcome the challenge. 

Karim Rekik: We scored some really great goal in the first half. We backtracked a bit in the second period and let them come onto us. We’ll have to speak again about that to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I enjoyed seeing us play like that. I always try to help the team and I’m glad the coach is pleased with me. Football is my passion and the coach has a vision of how he wants to play football and that suits me well. 

Vedad Ibisevic: I’m so pleased Salomon was able to get on the scoresheet at that it turned out tob e the winner. We planned to pressure them from the get-go and be aggressive, but you can never plan for it to go as well as it did for us. They have a lot of quality, and that’s why it was so close at the end- The last few minutes were a bit unpleasant but it was worth it at the end. Anyone can beat anyone in this league. The fight for those top places is going to be so tough, so we have to make sure we are picking up points as often as possible, This was another step in the right direction. 

by Hertha BSC