Thursday this week so here is an early post for my Hertha blog! Eintracht
Braunschweig entertained Dynamo Dresden in the key fixture of the three matches
played on this first day on Spieltag 27.
It started well, from a totally biased Hertha perspective! Dresden scored in the eighth minute to give a 1:0 scoreline that lasted all the way until the 31st minute when Bicakcic for Dreseden burst my bubble! Braunschweig went on to win 2:1 with a nice goal from Kumbela in the 53rd. This put Braunschweig at the top of the table, two points clear of Hertha. The game on Saturday where Hertha were visited by VfL Bochum could, and did, change all of that.
This is is the first Hertha home game that I had not been to watch since November so it will be sad having to watch it on a small screen but hey, that will not stop me! Hertha started as well as anyone could hope for with a fantastic free kick from Ronny curling into the top right corner in the fourth minute that left the Bochum keeper hopelessly stranded and putting Hertha 1:0 up. |
In the second half - in the 46th minute Nico Shulz ran through three defenders and knocked in the second with a great goal for Hertha! What a start for the second half as well as the first!! Hertha remained in control in this match through the second half and only ever looked at risk once with a defensive error by Kobi (I think) but Thomas Kraft grasped the ball out of danger. A double substitution by Bochum brought a little more life to their game when Freier and Aydin came on in the 67th minute but nothing that Hertha couldn't handle.
Hertha made a double substitution themselves as Ben Sahar and Alfredo Morales came on for Perr Kluge and Adrian Ramos respectively. Also Christoph Janker came on for Ronny with 2 minutes to go. Ronny had played a massive part in the match, not least of which through that magnificent free kick at the start.
Both Ronny and Ben Sahar had chances near the end but the third was just not going to come. What really matter is the three vital; points going to Hertha putting them at the top of the table once more. Spitzenreiter Spitzenreiter, HEY HEY!!
Kaiserslautern played on Sunday, and SV Sandhausen did us a small favour and the gap below to the playoff spot widened a little more. A 1:1 draw cost Kaiserslautern two points and the number three spot as FC Köln win at hapless Regensburg 2:1 and leapfrog them in the process. Hertha are now 13 points clear of Köln and the playoffs with just 21 points to play for. It could be worse!