Sunday 07 November 2021
Last minute trouble against Bayer
Hertha’s resistance does not reach the goal
Hertha BSC leaves the dramatically bad start of the season behind them, and against Bayer Leverkusen it looks like a win for a long time. But in the last minute, a lucky goal ensures the equalizer. Bayer slips just past a bitter damper.
Robert Andrich, who trained in Berlin, saved Bayer Leverkusen from another major setback at Hertha BSC. The 27-year-old scored in the 90th minute to make it 1: 1 (0: 1) for the Werkself, who have been waiting for a Bundesliga victory for four games. On the rather battered lawn of the Olympic Stadium, Stevan Jovetic (42nd) had put Berlin in the lead. In the table, the draw doesn’t really help any club.
“I’ve played enough football myself. In a game like this you have to make it 2-0 and go home as a winner,” said Hertha coach Pal Dardai at DAZN. “After the 1-0 win, we had enough time to change things. (…) Nevertheless, we can’t be dissatisfied, the team showed good form on the day, everyone did a good job. It was okay up to the 90th minute.” Defender Niklas Stark saw “a very good performance”, but the late equalizer was “just bitter”.
Wirtz is absent “due to pain”
In the stands among the 22,187 spectators sat national coach Hansi Flick, who should have received the news of the failure of the Leverkusen top talent Florian Wirtz with concern. The 18-year-old, who is nominated for the international matches on Thursday against Liechtenstein and on Sunday in Armenia, is plagued by muscular problems in the hip flexor. “Due to pain,” he couldn’t play, as Bayer coach Gerardo Seoane said. Whether Wirtz would travel to the national team on Monday was initially open. For the offensive player, Exequiel Palacios was in the Leverkusen starting lineup three days after the convincing victory in the Europa League against Betis Sevilla (4-0).
The guests were more agile at the beginning and created dangerous situations, especially on the right side via Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby. But after a quarter of an hour, Hertha gave up their restraint and acted more courageously. Neither team had great scoring chances at first, and many passes did not make it on the deep grass. Dardai was able to fall back on Marvin Plattenhardt and Marton Dardai, who replaced the suspended captain Dedryck Boyata in central defense. In the storm, the Hungarian Jovetic preferred to Krzysztof Piatek.
“Outstanding goal” puts Hertha in the front
The best chance up to then was missed by Suat Serdar, who failed in the 24th minute from a tight angle to Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. Two minutes later, Andrich, who was trained in Hertha youth, was cheering over the alleged Bayer goal, but the ball had already crossed the sideline at the pass. On the other hand, there was nothing wrong with Jovetic’s goal just before the break. After Maximilian Mittelstädt won a header duel, the ball got to the 32-year-old lurking in the penalty area, who gave Hradecky no chance with a shot in the corner. “It’s a very balanced game,” said Berlin’s sports director Arne Friedrich during the break at DAZN. “Jove’s goal was outstanding.”
Bayer equalized in the second half, but the Werkself still had a hard time getting into the Berlin penalty area. Kerem Demirbay’s long-range shot went wide (52nd). Seoane responded with a double substitution after an hour and brought in Nadiem Amiri and Daley Sinkgraven for Palacios and Hincapie. Bayer, however, clearly lacked the ideas to create dangerous opportunities. Then Andrich came along, took a free kick in the crowd and scored.