We didn't get the luck we needed

Hertha lost their opening home fixture despite having the better of the chances against VfL Wolfsburg.

Berlin – The Herthaner discussed exactly how the loss on their own turf came to pass. Disappointment was rife in the quotes of the players after the 3-0 home defeat to VfL Wolfsburg, especially given that they themselves played very well in the first half. Dodi Lukebakio made the point that “of course we wanted to win our first home game but it didn’t happen for us today. We tried our best and created a lot of chances, but in the end we just didn’t get the luck we needed.”

The lack of luck he was referring to began just seconds after kick off: Ondrej Duda went over in the penalty area after just 18 seconds. Referee Guido Winkmann pointed to the spot instantly but then later denied the Herthaner a penalty after consulting with VAR. The same could not be said for what then happened at the other end. Despite a heavy tackle by Xaver Schlager on Niklas Stark in the lead up to the visitors being given a penalty, Wout Weghorst stepped up and scored for Wolfsburg (9’).  “Unfortunately we didn’t get the penalty Wolfsburg got and naturally decisions like that heavily influenced the game. Nevertheless, we kept our heads up and played good football. We had some opportunities especially in the first half, but unfortunately we didn’t score,” said Marko Grujic.

No luck in front of goal

It was the Serbian who had perhaps the best chance to equalise for the home side when he struck twice at Koen Casteels only to see his first shot saved and his second shot blocked at the last second by Joshua Guilavogui (21’). Minutes before that, Salomon Kalou put a header inches past the left post after a wonderful cross from Vladimir Darida (12’). Hertha BSC were on top of Wolfsburg for almost the entirety of the first half: “Wolfsburg didn’t outplay us by any stretch of the imagination – we got on top early, created plenty of chances but just didn’t take them,” said Maximilian Mittelstädt.

Again in the second half, the Herthaner pushed as hard as they could to win the game, with head coach Ante Covic switching to a more attacking lineup by bringing on both Davie Selke and Daishawn Redan. At just 18 years and 204 days, Redan is the youngest Dutchman ever to feature in the Bundesliga. Hertha’s new number 33 almost made a spectacular start to his Bundesliga career, sending an acrobatic effort just wide (72’). After all of these Hertha BSC attacks, the visitors decided it was time to play on the counter as Josip Brekalo effectively ended the tie with his solo effort (82’), before Jerome Roussillon put the icing on the cake just a minute before time. “We clearly dominated the game and Wolfsburg didn’t do much to trouble us, but as we pushed for an equaliser towards the end, they were clever enough to hit us on the break and score twice,” said debutant Eduard Löwen.

“Drawing the right conclusions”