“We earned those three points”

One of Pál Dárdai’s oldest mottos is that hard work always pays off in football. The head coach must have felt like this saying came to life on Saturday afternoon, as Hertha took three points back to the capital from Frankfurt. After taking an early lead, scoring a counter to make it 2-0 and then overcoming the nerves to win 2-1, the whole team agreed that the three points was a just reward for everything they’d been through. “Preparing for the game, we agreed that pressing in midfield was the main thing we wanted to try, and we did that very well from the start,” summarised goalscorer Marco Richter, the opener his first for the Blue-Whites. “My goal was key to opening the door, and I think we all earned this win today!” All the reaction from Hertha’s boys has been collected here at herthabsc.com.

Marco Richter: Preparing for the game, we agreed that pressing in midfield was the main thing we wanted to try, and we did that very well from the start. My goal was key to opening the door – I definitely got a touch (laughs)! Going into the break ahead helped us a lot and we were able to get the second goal afterwards. After that we did well in fits and starts, but I think you can see that over 90 minutes we definitely deserved the three points, and we earned it.  

Niklas Stark: We lived up to our expectations really well in the first half – the main thing we focused on in training was staying compact. We started the game well, winning the ball a lot and when you are able to run freely without much contact, the whole game becomes more fun. We did lose a bit of that in the second half, and didn’t get going too well after the break. We need to improve on that in future and be fully up for it for the whole 90 minutes. I didn’t see much of the penalty; you would have a much better view of it from another angle. I did feel something, but if VAR says it wasn’t a foul then it wasn’t a foul. To be honest, I don’t mind too much – we won the game and that’s the main thing. We made a good impression; we need to do the same as we did in the first half in the next few games.

Prince Boateng: I’ve got to compliment the lads. The team did exactly what we talked about beforehand. We started the game well, and took the lead early on – that brought a bit of self confidence. We dealt with the period of pressure Frankfurt put on at the start of the second half well. Before the game I did say that it wasn’t the most important game of the season, but the win is very important, most of all for the squad’s morale. To win away from home and bring three points back to Berlin will give us a push. Returning to Frankfurt was brilliant. I haven’t been in town for a long time, so it’s great to come back to see people I like and feel the love again. I want to wish Eintracht the best – I’m sorry we took three points off you, but we needed them.

Fredi Bobic: I’m delighted for the lads and the coaching team – they put in their best performance of the season so far. We were so focused and defended well in our system. We didn’t go out and stop playing football too; we were active in the game and were so dangerous on the counter. We could have put the game to bed in the first half with our chances, but we still won and that’s good of course, but we still have a long road ahead.