The long wait in the Rückrunde

Match day 22 on a grey Saturday in February saw visitors VfL Wolfsburg come to the Olympiastadion to take their chances against high flying Hertha.  Although Hertha were in a creditable fourth place coming into this game the Rückrunde had only yielded three points in four games so far.  This faltering form inevitably gave rise to some nervousness going into this game but a very real knowledge that “we can do this” was also underpinning the atmosphere.

There was a decent crowd in Berlin for the game with an attendance of just over 40,000.  The fans poured into the ground with the normal good humour in trains packed with beer bottles and needed much stronger refreshment.
 
It was a little surprising to see a total absence of away fans until I got into the ground itself.  I was itching to send some tweet and a picture about a “lone wolf” but until it was too late, I didn’t even see one!

The weather on the day was pretty dull and grey if I was honest but the forecast had been for even worse!  The fans gathered around the “East Gate” with the ground wet from earlier rain but with bottles of beer in hand to lighten the mood.  Again I didn’t see any Wolfsburg fans so I assume they were all at the South gate

The game itself was a pretty frustrating experience from the stands.  Although Hertha had more possession and shots in the first half it all came to nothing.  There were chances however and Salomon Kalou showed his worth on a few occasions despite the visitors trying to mark him out of the match.  One attempt saw Kalou dribbling around the opposition and making a pass to Vedad Ibisevic who couldn’t quite get the finish to net the ball.  A little later a second pass from Kalou, this time to Darida saw Vladamir put the shot just wide.

In the end an error from Jay Brooks on the left touchline spilled the ball to Wolfburg who then drove on to score.  Against the overall flow of play but that's the way it goes sometimes.  Then, in the 60th minute Vedad Ibisevic was running at the Wolfsburg goal, shot and the clearance went to Kalou who turned and shot with the ball threading through/off a defenders legs and into the back of the net. 

A heroic double save from Jarstein saw Hertha through to a 1:1 draw and the long wait in the Rückrunde for that first victory continued for another week.