A hard-earned point in Leverkusen

Hertha BSC drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday afternoon (29/11/20). The boys from Berlin put in a solid defensive performance to keep a second consecutive clean sheet away from home.

Bruno Labbadia sent out the same team that had started against Borussia Dortmund last week. The match came too soon for Jordan Torunarigha, who returned to training this week after recovering from the coronavirus and a syndesmosis injury. For the opposition, Peter Bosz made four changes to the team that started the midweek Europa League victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva; Wendell, Tin Jedvaj, Nadiem Amiri and Karim Bellarabi dropped out with Daley Sinkgraven, Lars Bender, Julian Baumgartlinger and Moussa Diaby taking their places. There was a former Hertha man on the bench for the hosts, Mitchell Weiser.

There was a minute’s silence for Diego Maradona ahead of all fixtures on Bundesliga matchday nine. The blue-and-whites were also honoring long-term club president Heinz Warneke, who passed away last weekend. Referee Daniel Schlager then blew his whistle, and the 49th Bundesliga meeting between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the Old Lady was underway. The capital city club set off with a high press, putting the opposition under plenty of early pressure. After just eight minutes, Dodi Lukébakio had Hertha’s first sight at goal, but our number 11 couldn’t get the finishing touch on Dedryck Boyata’s long ball. The attacker had the next opportunity as well, testing Leverkusen ‘keeper Hradecky with an effort from just inside the box (12’). The majority of the match was then played in the middle of the park, with Hertha’s backline standing firm and the hosts only threatening from distance. Alexander Schwolow showed off his reflexes to save a long-range effort from Kerem Demirbay (32’), before tipping a Leon Bailey attempt onto the post (34’). With that, the first half ended goalless.

Both sides’ attacking players were also kept quiet after the break, and were unable to make any impact on the scoreline. Demirbay sent a free-kick wide of the target (54’), before the Germany international went even closer just a few minutes later as he called Schwolow into action again (67’). 20 minutes from full-time, Labbadia threw on two new attackers, sending on Mathew Leckie and Jessic Ngankam in place of Dodi Lukébakio and Krzysztof Piątek. Márton Dárdai also replaced Omar Alderete with 15 minutes remaining, but the substitutions didn’t affect the run of the match. The hosts had the better of the final few minutes, as Lars Bender narrowly missed a header following a free-kick (90’). The match ended 0-0 with some strong defending from Hertha, although there was little attacking threat to speak of at the other end.

8’: Woah! A long pass from Dedryck Boyata drops towards Dodi Lukébakio, who stretches out a toe but can’t get the proper contact to guide the ball into the net.

12’: Hertha definitely aren’t hiding here. Lukébakio has another go from the left of the box, but Hradecky saves.

32’: Now it’s Alexander Schwolow who is called into action! Kerem Demirbay hits a hard shot from range, which Schwolli gladly turns over the bar for a corner...

34’: Another long-shot for the hosts, as Bailey draws another stop from Schwolow.

55’: It goes back and forth between Demirbay and Bailey before Demirbay misses with his second bite at the cherry.

67’: Demirbay tries again but it’s too high this time. Goal kick.

90’: What a relief! Leverkusen’s Bender gets his head to the ball in a crowded penalty area, but his effort misses the target.