Hard-earned victory against Viktoria Köln

On Friday afternoon (14.08.20), Hertha were victorious in their first preseason friendly of 2020/21. Facing external opposition for the first time, Bruno Labbadia’s team defeated Viktoria Köln 2-0 in warm and humid conditions. Dodi Lukébakio and Daishawn Redan were the goalscorers for the Old Lady.

Having already completed a morning training session, the Berlin side lined up with a 4-4-2 formation and immediately tried to take control of the game at the Stadion auf dem Wurfplatz/Amateurstadion. Despite keeping the ball for long periods of possession, there were no clear-cut chances until after the first drinks break of the match (25’). After almost half an hour of play the blue-and-whites finally broke into a dangerous position; Arne Maier found Deyovaisio Zeefuik with a wonderful switch of play, before Zeefuik combined well with Krzysztof Piątek in the opposition’s box. The Pole’s cross to the back post was unfortunately just missed by the arriving Jessic Ngankam (31’). Hertha spent another ten minutes recycling possession before turning this dominance into something more concrete. Shortly before half-time, Lukébakio slammed the ball into the net after being found by Matheus Cunha (41’). The Brazilian then missed a great chance to double the lead before the break (45’). One interesting tactical point that arose during the first half was the positioning of the Hertha defenders. Jordan Torunarigha started the game at left-back before swapping positions with central defender Márton Dárdai midway through the first half. Rune Jarstein lead the team out as captain but, due to a lack of chances for the opposition, was not given the opportunity to show what he can do.

A dominant performance

Labbadia sent out an entirely different XI for the second half, but there was to be no shift in the balance of the game. The first opportunities of the half soon arrived, with Hertha having a great double chance to score (55’). Ondrej Duda tested goalkeeper André Weis after winning the ball on the edge of the penalty area, before Niklas Stark sent the rebound wide of the post. In a game watched by Germany U21 head coach Stefan Kuntz, Hertha disrupted Viktoria’s play through hard work and energetic running. During a period of intense Hertha pressure, the lively Duda shot over the bar from long-range (69’). Like in the first half, Hertha were more threatening after the drinks break, and the second goal arrived after some quality build-up play. Javairo Dilrosun crossed for Mathew Leckie, who found himself free in front of goal but unselfishly laid the ball off for Daishawn Redan, who tapped home from just a few metres out (79’). The scoreline remained at 2-0 until the final whistle.

"In the first 20 to 25 minutes, we didn’t play with the same mentality as we normally do. We were better after the drinks break, and this improvement led to our first goal. The team that played the second half had their foot on the gas right from the beginning. They then ran out of steam a little, but that’s also down to the intensity of our training,” said head coach Bruno Labbadia, taking some positives from the match. “All in all it was a decent test. I saw some positives out there, but obviously some things that we need to work on a little more, too.” Labbadia was forced to leave out Vladimir Darida and Maximilian Mittelstädt due to the two suffering minor ankle injuries. All things well, the pair will return to train with the team at the beginning of next week.

Hertha Berlin, first-half team: Jarstein - Zeefuik, Boyata, Torunarigha, M. Dárdai - Lukébakio, Ascacibar, Maier, Ngankam - Cunha, Piątek

Hertha Berlin, second-half team: Schwolow, Pekarik, Klünter, Rekik, Plattenhardt - Tousart, Stark - Dilrosun, Duda, Leckie - Redan

Goals: 1-0 Lukébakio (41’), 2-0 Redan (79’)
Referee: Florian Lechner