Teams | January 2, 2021 at 10:48 PM
A comfortable home win to start the year!
A comfortable home win to start the year!
Hertha BSC beat Schalke 04 on Saturday evening in the first match of the year. Mattéo Guendouzi, Jhon Córdoba and Krzysztof Piątek scored the goals in a well-deserved 3-0 win.
Hertha BSC beat Schalke 04 on Saturday evening in the first match of the year. Mattéo Guendouzi, Jhon Córdoba and Krzysztof Piątek scored in a well-deserved 3-0 win.Hertha BSC beat Schalke 04 on Saturday evening in the first match of the year. Mattéo Guendouzi, Jhon Córdoba and Krzysztof Piątek scored in a well-deserved 3-0 win.
Head coach Bruno Labbadia made four changes from the team that started in Freiburg 13 days ago. Marvin Plattenhardt replaced Maximilian Mittelstädt at left-back with Omar Alderete starting alongside Niklas Stark in central defence. Jordan Torunarigha and Dedryck Boyata dropped out of the side, with Stark moving back from midfield and taking over captaincy duties from the injured Boyata. Lucas Tousart returned to the team in defensive midfield, while Jhon Córdoba was back in attack having been injured since the start of November. Krzysztof Piątek dropped to the bench. Youngster Luca Netz was also named in the squad for the third time this season. Bruno Labbadia had to do without Javairô Dilrosun after the Dutchman picked up a knee injury in training this week. He will be missing for the next few weeks.
Christian Gross, Schalke’s new head coach, made four changes with Ralf Fährmann starting in goal. Also in the line-up was Mark Uth, returning after having suffered a serious head injury against Augsburg in December. Rainer Widmayer was on the sidelines for the first time since arriving as assistant manager.
Both teams had chances in the opening stages of the match, but neither Plattenhardt’s free-kick nor (2’) nor Uth’s shot (11’) found the back of the net. The capital city club enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had the first major opportunity through Dodi Lukébakio. A quick goal-kick from Alexander Schwolow found Matheus Cunha, who played the Belgian through into the penalty area, but Fährmann saved the one-on-one to keep the scores level (22’). Six minutes later, Vladimir Darida shot straight at the Schalke goalkeeper. On the counter-attack, the Royal Blues had their first real sight of goal as Uth shot past the post (28’). Chances came more and more frequently, with the side from Berlin gaining the upper hand. Plattenhardt’s volley missed the target (32’) and Lukébakio couldn’t get the right contact to put the ball in the net from close range (33’). Tousart’s effort was simple for Fährmann (34’), but the breakthrough arrived just two minutes later. Mattéo Guendouzi pounced on a rebound to curl home the opening goal from the edge of the box (36’). Eight minutes after that, Hertha’s number eight won the ball in midfield and had a similar opportunity, but this time the ‘keeper was a match for it (44’).
Both team had chances in the opening stages of the match, but neither Plattenhardt’s free-kick nor (2’) nor Uth’s shot (11’) found the back of the net. The capital city club enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had the first major opportunity through Dodi Lukébakio. A quick goal-kick Alexander Schwolow found Matheus Cunha, who played the Belgian through in the penalty area, but Fährmann saved the one0n-one to keep the scores level (22’). Six minutes later, Vladimir Darida shot straight at the Schalke goalkeeper. On the counter-attack, the Royal Blues had their first real sight of goal as Uth shot past the post (28’). Chances came more and more frequently, with the side from Berlin gaining the upper hand. Plattenhardt’s volley missed the target (32’) and Lukébakio couldn’t get the right contact to put the ball in the net from close range (33’). Tousart’s effort was simple for Fährmann (34’), but the breakthrough arrived just two minutes later. Mattéo Guendouzi pounced on a rebound to curl home the opening goal from the edge of the box (36’). Eight minutes after that, Hertha’s number eight won the ball in midfield and had a similar opportunity, but this time the ‘keeper was a match for it (44’).Both teams had chances in the opening stages of the match, but neither Plattenhardt’s free-kick nor (2’) nor Uth’s shot (11’) found the back of the net. The capital city club enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had the first major opportunity through Dodi Lukébakio. A quick goal-kick Alexander Schwolow found Matheus Cunha, who played the Belgian through in the penalty area, but Fährmann saved the one0n-one to keep the scores level (22’). Six minutes later, Vladimir Darida shot straight at the Schalke goalkeeper. On the counter-attack, the Royal Blues had their first real sight of goal as Uth shot past the post (28’). Chances came more and more frequently, with the side from Berlin gaining the upper hand. Plattenhardt’s volley missed the target (32’) and Lukébakio couldn’t get the right contact to put the ball in the net from close range (33’). Tousart’s effort was simple for Fährmann (34’), but the breakthrough arrived just two minutes later. Mattéo Guendouzi pounced on a rebound to curl home the opening goal from the edge of the box (36’). Eight minutes after that, Hertha’s number eight won the ball in midfield and had a similar opportunity, but this time the ‘keeper was a match for it (44’).
After the break the Old Lady kept their foot on the gas, with Tousart (47’) and Cunha (49’) seeing their efforts blocked by the Schalke defence. It was third time lucky, though, as Cunha wn the ball and fed it to Darida. Darida sent the ball into the middle, where Córdoba was arriving to fire home the second (52’). The goal freed Hertha of any pressure and gave the players more fuel for the fire. The Royal Blues were visibly demoralised by the second goal. The home team were dominating now, and Schalke very nearly scored an own goal when defender Nastasic turned the ball just past the post (66’). Alderete (68’) and Cunha (72’) were also denied by Fährmann. The substitute Piątek had the final say in the match; played through by an inch-perfect pass from Darida, the Pole kept his cool to net Hertha’s third (80’) and put the game beyond doubt. Darida could have crowned his performance with a goal (90’) shortly before the referee blew for full-time and Hertha were rewarded with their fourth victory of the season. Shortly before the end, Hertha academy product Netz entered the pitch to celebrate his Bundesliga debut.
After the break the Old Lady kept their foot on the gas, with Tousart (47’) and Cunha (49’) seeing their efforts blocked by the Schalke defence. It was third time lucky, though, as Cunha wn the ball and fed it to Darida. Darida sent the ball into the middle, where Córdoba was arriving to fire home the second (52’). The goal freed Hertha of any pressure and gave the players more fuel for the fire. The Royal Blues were visibly demoralised by the second goal. The home team were dominating now, and Schalke very nearly scored an own goal when defender Nastasic turned the ball just past the post (66’). Alderete (68’) and Cunha (72’) were also denied by Fährmann. The substitute Piątek had the final say in the match; played through by an inch-perfect pass from Darida, the Pole kept his cool to net Hertha’s third (80’) and put the game beyond doubt. Darida could have crowned his performance with a goal (90’) shortly before the referee blew for full-time and Hertha were rewarded with their fourth victory of the season. Shortly before the end, Hertha academy product Netz entered the pitch to celebrate his Bundesliga debut.After the break the Old Lady kept their foot on the gas, with Tousart (47’) and Cunha (49’) seeing their efforts blocked by the Schalke defence. It was third time lucky, though, as Cunha wn the ball and fed it to Darida. Darida sent the ball into the middle, where Córdoba was arriving to fire home the second (52’). The goal freed Hertha of any pressure and gave the players more fuel for the fire. The Royal Blues were visibly demoralised by the second goal. The home team were dominating now, and Schalke very nearly scored an own goal when defender Nastasic turned the ball just past the post (66’). Alderete (68’) and Cunha (72’) were also denied by Fährmann. The substitute Piątek had the final say in the match; played through by an inch-perfect pass from Darida, the Pole kept his cool to net Hertha’s third (80’) and put the game beyond doubt. Darida could have crowned his performance with a goal (90’) shortly before the referee blew for full-time and Hertha were rewarded with their fourth victory of the season. Shortly before the end, Hertha academy product Netz entered the pitch to celebrate his Bundesliga debut.
The year is off to a flying start after the capital city club secured three important points on matchday 14. Hertha have climbed up to twelfth place with 16 points. Next Sunday (10/01/21, 18:00 CET), we visit Arminia Bielefeld looking to build on today’s result.
32nd minute: A great opportunity for Hertha! Schwolli sends the ball up the pitch quickly after collecting from a Schalke corner, finding Matheus Cunha out on the left. He sets up Córdoba, but Fährmann is on hand to stop the Colombian’s effort. By far the best chance of the half so far!
36th minute: IT’S FINALLY IN! Cunha sees an attempt blocked, but it drops kindly for Mattéo Guendouzi who strokes the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box. YES!
44th minute: Guendouzi again! Córdoba bullies his way through the Schalke defence with Lukébakio for support, but spots our scorer on the left-hand side. This time, however, Fährmann is able to deal with his attempt.
32ndnute: A great opportunity for Hertha! Schwolli sends the ball up the pitch quickly after collecting from a Schalke corner, finding Matheus Cunha out on the left. He sets up Córdoba, but Fährmann is on hand to stop the Colombian’s effort. By far the best chance of the half so far!
36th minute: IT’S FINALLY IN! Cunha sees an attempt blocked, but it drops kindly for Mattéo Guendouzi who strokes the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box. YES!
44th minute: Guendouzi again! Córdoba bullies his way through the Schalke defence with Lukébakio for support, but spots our scorer on the left-hand side. This time however, Fährmann is able to deal with his attempt.
52nd minute: GOAL! Labbadia’s team are rewarded for a bright start after the break with the second of the evening! Cunha advances with Darida alongside him, before it is squared to Córdoba in the middle. He is able to convert cooley with a clinical finish!
80th minute: PIO, PIO, PIO! The substitute nets a third! Darida cleverly plays through Piątek, who times his run perfectly and finds himself one-on-one with Fährmann. He nutmegs the Schalke keeper to make it three!