The perfect moment

Hertha BSC battled to a hard fought victory at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Timing proved to be decisive in this match.

Close matches are rarely decided by set pieces in football. However, Hertha BSC’s home clash with Eintracht Frankfurt was decided by a 40th minute set piece which gave a psychological advantage going into half-time.  After 40 competitive minutes, Marko Grujić rose highest from a Marvin Plattenhardt corner to fire home and give the home side the lead. “When the corner came in, I had the feeling I could head the ball into the back of the net. I’m delighted to have scored my first Hertha goal – it was a special moment,” said a thrilled Grujić after the match. “We picked the perfect moment to score as we could sort out our problems at half time. It gave me renewed confidence,” analysed Grujić, who also gave Hertha’s opponents some respect for their performance. 2It was a difficult match, especially in the second half as Frankfurt showed why they are currently up in the European places.” The Serbian also was on the winning side against close friend Luka Jovic. “I think he needs to invite me round for dinner after today’s victory,” chuckles the 22 year-old.

Frankfurt increase the pressure after second goal is disallowed

After half-time, Hertha went in search of a second goal to build on their lead. Davie Selke did manage to put the ball in the back of the net, albeit from an offside position. Moments later, the striker was denied by a strong save from Kevin Trapp after a mistake in the Frankfurt defence. “We should’ve sealed the victory in this period of dominance,” explained Pál Dárdai after the match. The visitors came back into the match and increased the pressure on the Blue-Whites defence, who stood firm. “Rune Jarstein made two very strong saves to keep us in the lead but we didn’t allow Frankfurt too many chances,” said the Hungarian, who was satisfied with his team’s performance. Just before the final whistle, Frankfurt thought they had won a penalty after a collision between Grujić and Luka Jović in the box, but it wasn’t given after a Video Assistant Review (VAR). According to Dárdai, this was the correct decision. “In my opinion there were four hands involved not just two. It was consequently not a penalty in my opinion,” explained Hertha’s head coach.

Strong teamwork and desire for more

Hertha were able to see out the remaining few minutes and secure a second consecutive victory.  “We might have benefited from a stroke of luck but were the better side,” analysed Fabian Lustenberger. The Swiss defender was also full of praise for his teammates. “It doesn’t matter who played and who is injured. Every player gives everything they have. We have a lot of quality in the team and this was evident once again today.” Davie Selke also praised how the team worked together to secure the victory.  “Everyone stuck to the match plan extremely well and it was great to take the lead from a set piece before seeing out the victory. These are three extremely important points. We were very successful today in the final third and showed a great reaction to the bad spell we went through recently,” said Hertha’s number 27.

However, this isn’t enough for the players. “We still have a couple of matches to play and can secure some more points,” said Marvin Plattenhardt. The left-back looks ahead to next Saturday’s away trip to Stuttgart and believes it is perfect timing for Hertha to build some momentum. “We have three matches still to play and want to win all three of them,” said Lustenberger who believes the team can build on their self-confidence and use it to their advantage. Hertha’s fans will hope this is the case in the remaining three matches in 2018.