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Ingolstadt and three more points

3/20/2016

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​Match day 27 saw Berlin awakening to skies shrouded by clouds but with the promise of sunshine and blue skies.  By the time I had stirred myself to put the coffee on and jump in the shower the promise was starting to be fulfilled!  It turned out into a wonderful spring day and nudging up towards 9 degrees Centigrade.  After the performance against Schalke last Friday my mood was a little more upbeat than it had been after coming back from Hamburg and this, together with the fine spring weather set the scene for a lovely football filled Saturday in Berlin!
The crowd size was disappointing given the conditions and Hertha’s recent successes buy over 40,000 still came to the Olympiastadion to watch the game.  Those that did come however were pretty pumped up and looking forward to Hertha picking up three more points to bring them closer to a place in Europe next season.
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The game itself saw Hertha holding much of the possession (54%) and winning slightly more than their fair share of the tackles (52%).  Most of the fans in the stadium were out of their seats (if they were ever in them) after just five minutes when the ball ended up in the Ingolstadt net from a Vedad Ibisevic header only to be called offside and disallowed.  What a start that would have been! 

Although marvellous Marvin Plattenhardt managed to hit the bar (via a Salomon Kalou ricochet) the end of the first half but we had to wait until the second half for nets to bulge again and the key player of the game, in my opinion, was Genki Haraguchi who had a part in both goals.  The first came in the 54th minute when a cross came over from marvellous Marvin Plattenhardt only for Genki to slot it into the net with his right foot.  He was in the action again when he crossed the ball and this time it was Salomon Kalou’s turn to blast it past the keeper with his left.
Ingolstadt tried to spoil the party by somehow getting the ball past Rune Jarstein in the 75th and making us all a little nervous with a string of corners at about the 80th minute.  In the end Hertha held on fairly comfortably and kept all three points in Berlin.

Looking at the figures after the match about who was the busiest boy on the pitch confirmed what appeared to be the case while it was happening. Tolga Cigerci picked up that award with 95 touches although he also committed 3 fouls in the process!  After Tolga’s performance against Schalke and putting in a good shift against Ingolstadt, Fabian Lustenberger may be wondering when his next game will be!

The video clip below shows the team approach the fans in the Ostkurve after the game to celebrate the victory with them.

​After the game I was fortunate enough to have an “after match ticket” and so I could go down to the Jesse Owens Lounge after the match.  After taking full advantage of the “free” drinks and dinner that was provided I was able to take a few snaps of some of the players before they headed off home.  Here are a few of them for you, gentle reader, should you wish to look at them . . . 
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What a difference a week makes – Fussball, Fussball, Fussball!

3/13/2016

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A week ago I was licking my wounds after a long weekend in Hamburg and witnessing a fairly miserable performance from my team. For that game we went there with an impressive record against HSV and “expecting” another win to add to that record.

History now shows us what any fans expectations are worth when it comes down to it. This week, in fact just five days later, Hertha hosted Schalke 04.
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The Old Lady had a dreadful record against S04 a team that I believe I’m correct in saying Hertha had not beaten since 2006! It appears the football gods yet again showed no respect for such records and Hertha produced a masterclass in counterattacking football with goals from Ibisevic in the 42nd minute and the first for Niklas Stark as a header in from a corner in the 65th! They were so very different from the team that played in Hamburg less that a week before.
It was especially good to see Pál Dárdai after the match shouting “Fussball, Fussball, Fussball" as the last time Hertha beat Schalke he was playing! (
photo courtesy of Sportschau). It just goes to confirm (if it ever needed to be) that the ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is up for grabs on the day!
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Away in Hamburg

3/8/2016

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After Hertha’s 2.0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt during the week I spent a long weekend in Hamburg to explore the city and some of its surrounds but also, naturally, watch Hertha.  The feeling going was upbeat with an impressive run of wins against HSV in recent times: 1:0, 3:0, 3:0, 1:0 and 3:0. 
I for one had high hopes that Hertha could consolidate their position and put a couple more points between the Old Lady and the following pack.  The walk from the station to the Volksparkstadion took about twenty minutes but sipping a beer along the way added to the overall feeling of wellbeing.  At that point I and for some time afterwards I had every reason to be optimistic.
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It was a bit of a grey afternoon and arriving at a grey Volksparkstation seemed to match somehow.  The security at the stadium was pretty thorough and the search of my “other half’s” handbag (about the size of a large box of matches) felt like it took about five minutes!  Quite what they thought could be concealed in a bag that size baffles me but hey,  it needs to be done I guess!
After going through security to the guest block the first thing we saw was a Hertha fan shop caravan” selling all of the normal scarves hats shirts etc. 

Naturally I was already equipped with my shirt and scarf so, although interesting to see what they had, this time I didn’t part with any more money!


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Things didn’t get off to a good start for the old lady and it didn’t really improve much.  I wouldn’t pretend to know how it all went wrong but Hertha only retained 44% of the possession.  That in itself is not necessarily a problem however, what clearly was a problem was the fact that Hertha had only three attempts on goal (two from Darida and one from Ibisevic) whilst HSV had fourteen!   Passes went astray and it appeared, from this fans perspective, too many times the ball was just “hoofed” up forward only to be lost.  Gone was the imperious style of performance Hertha demonstrated against Mainz before Christmas.   
Hertha were living very dangerously and dependant on the Hamburg attack being equally flawed.  In the second half however HSV had their breakthrough and Nicolai Muller scored twice to burst the Hertha bubble.  Much as I hoped they would, Hertha didn’t come back and it finished 2:0 although the Old Lady, for the moment at least, remains in third place.  The European slots at the top of the Bundesliga however are now looking incredibly tight.

That long walk back to the station felt very, very long indeed that night but hey, onwards and upwards.  This time last year I would have snatched your arm off had you offered third place no matter how insecure that place was! 

Next stop new turf in the Olympiastadion and Schalke 04. 
  
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