Exciting second half sees Hertha draw with Dortmund in Berlin

A lively second period of football saw Hertha take a point off Borussia Dortmund in their first home game of 2018 on Friday night.

Berlin- It was a point in the end, but it could have been three. Hertha got off the mark for 2018 by holding Champions League-chasing Dortmund in Berlin on Matchday 19.

Davie Selke’s early second goal looked like being enough for a long time as Hertha did well to weather the blacj and white storm, only for Shinji Kagawa to pop up and earn a point for Peter Stöger’s visitors with 20 minutes to play.

Hertha had the ball in the net again before Dortmund got on the scoresheet, but Ondrej Duda poked home Salomon Kalou’s goalbound effort from an offside position.

There were two changes from last week’s loss in Stuttgart, as Thomas Kraft replaced Rune Jarstein, who missed out through a thigh strain picked up at the last minute, and Ondrej Duda came in up top for Mathew Leckie.

A noisy Olympiastadion welcomed football back under its light for a new year, although most of the drama in this one was saved for the second act, as neither team were able to unlock the door to the other’s defence before half-time.

Jadon Sancho and Shinji Kagawa both look dangerous for the hosts, while Marvin Plattenhardt and Valentino Lazaro ruffled the netting for Hertha – alas the wrong side from the home crowd’s perspective – with decent-looking free kick attempts.

Those waiting long at the refreshment stalls at the break may have only just been tucking into their hot dogs by the time those already in their seats were out of them again as Hertha took the lead following a classy move straight from a Dortmund kick off.

Mitchell Weiser exchanged passes with Lazaro down the right, and the young Austrian’s ball across the box was perfectly weighted for Davie Selke to open his account for the calendar year, sliding the ball behind Roman Bürki in the Dortmund goal.

At that point all the action was coming from those in Blue and White, though the best sight of goal saw Salomon Kalou well over from Marvin Plattenhardt’s cross.

Then came the hide-behind-the-sofa moment. Salomon Kalou looked to have completed another flowing move from Dardai’s boys by rolling the ball past Bürki, only for Ondrej Duda to divert the ball home himself from an offside position. It would, unfortunately, prove costly.

Kraft had been alert to tip over Christian Pulisic’s rasping effort, but could do nothing to stop Kagawa nodding Dortmund’s equaliser after the Hertha defence failed to deal with a Jadon Sancho cross.

Hertha introduced Mathew Leckie and handed a return to Vladimir Darida in the final stages, but were able to fully punish Dortmund on the break after soaking some late pressure.

A noisy Olympiastadion welcomed football back under its light for a new year, although most of the drama in this one was saved for the second act, as neither team were able to unlock the door to the other’s defence before half-time.

Jadon Sancho and Shinji Kagawa both look dangerous for the hosts, while Marvin Plattenhardt and Valentino Lazaro ruffled the netting for Hertha – alas the wrong side from the home crowd’s perspective – with decent-looking free kick attempts.

Those waiting long at the refreshment stalls at the break may have only just been tucking into their hot dogs by the time those already in their seats were out of them again as Hertha took the lead following a classy move straight from a Dortmund kick off.

Mitchell Weiser exchanged passes with Lazaro down the right, and the young Austrian’s ball across the box was perfectly weighted for Davie Selke to open his account for the calendar year, sliding the ball behind Roman Bürki in the Dortmund goal.

At that point all the action was coming from those in Blue and White, though the best sight of goal saw Salomon Kalou well over from Marvin Plattenhardt’s cross.

Then came the hide-behind-the-sofa moment.Salomon Kalou looked to have completed another flowing move from Dardai’s boys by rolling the ball past Bürki, only for Ondrej Duda to divert the ball home himself from an offside position.It would, unfortunately, prove costly.

Kraft had been alert to tip over Christian Pulisic’s rasping effort, but could do nothing to stop Kagawa nodding Dortmund’s equaliser after the Hertha defence failed to deal with a Jadon Sancho cross.

Hertha introduced Mathew Leckie and handed a return to Vladimir Darida in the final stages, but were able to fully punish Dortmund on the break after soaking some late pressure.

Hertha’s first point of the Rückrunde moves them to 25 for the season and leaves them in 11^th in table, one behind Hannover in 10^th. Dardai will take his boys across the country to Bremen for Matchday 20, and an evening kick off a week Saturday (Jan 27^th).