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.
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.
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.
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 . . .
RSS Feed