Plenty of chances, but Hertha fall to narrow defeat against BMG

For the second away game of the season, Sandro Schwarz picked an unchanged starting eleven from the team who achieved a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. There was one change on the bench, with Marco Richter replacing Derry Scherhant. In the process, Richter made his comeback to the squad only five weeks after his diagnosis for testicular cancer.

Plenty of chances for the Blue-Whites

On the pitch, Hertha made a fast start, with Dodi Lukébakio firing wide with barely four minutes on the clock. There were further attempts by Chidera Ejuke, Wilfried Kanga and Lucas Tousart in an exciting opening period for Hertha, who looked to break forward at every opportunity (6’, 10’, 14’, 15’). There were, however, also chances for the hosts, with Pléa hitting the right post (7’), and Ramy Bensebaini and Marcus Thuram shooting straight at Oliver Christensen (12’, 17’). The entertaining football continued, with Ejuke winning the ball back before going on a slaloming solo run, only to be denied by Borussia goalkeeper Yann Sommer (21’). The Switzerland international also had to be at full stretch moments later to save from Lukébakio (26’). Hertha leading the shot count 8:5 after 30 minutes speaks for itself. It was Mönchengladbach who took the lead, though, with Pléa converting from the spot after Maximilian Mittelstädt was penalised for blocking a cross with his arm (34’). This knock-back did not affect Hertha’s attacking output, with Kanga firing straight at Sommer with an overhead kick after a Mittelstädt cross (42’), and Lukébakio hitting the ball over the crossbar when well-placed (43’). At half-time an equaliser looked possible, and would have been deserved.

Christen saves second penalty, Prince centimetres away from an equaliser

Despite not being such an all-action start as the first-half, Hertha continued to press forward in search of an equaliser in the second period. Captain Lucas Tousart put Lukébakio through, but his attempted cross to Kanga was cleared for a corner by Kō Itakura (56’). At the other end, the hosts had the clearest opportunity to double their lead through a Jonas Hofmann penalty, but Christensen did brilliantly to get down to his left and save the Germany international’s effort (70’). In the incident for the penalty, Filip Uremović handled the ball from a corner and picked up a second yellow, meaning Hertha were down to 10 men. Schwarz reacted by bringing on Márton Dárdai to shore up the defence, and fresh legs up front in the shape of Stevan Jovetić (72’). Hertha struggled to create clear-cut chances whilst a man down. Schwarz made a further two attacking changes in the final few minutes, with Davie Selke and Prince Boateng entering the fray. The last chance of any note came in the 88 minute, with Jovetić dragging a left-footed shot just wide, and Prince Boateng being unable to get a deciding touch at the back post. The game ended in a close 1-0 defeat, despite a good performance and 17 shots to Gladbach’s 11. Hertha welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Olympiastadion this coming Saturday (27.08.22 CEST).

Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer (C) – Scally, Itakura, Elvedi, Bensebaini – Kramer, Koné, Hofmann (Wolf 90+1'), Neuhaus (Friedrich 90+6'), Pléa (Herrmann 90+4') – Thuram

Hertha BSC: Christensen – Kenny, Uremović, Kempf, Mittelstädt – Šunjić (57‘ Boëtius), Serdar (83‘ Selke), Tousart (C) (83‘ Boateng) – Ejuke (72‘ Dárdai), Kanga (72‘ Jovetić), Lukébakio

Goal: 1-0 Pléa (penalty 34‘), 

Referee: Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck

Yellow cards: Herrmann – Uremović, Schwarz

Red card: Uremović

Attendance: 48,411