What will Hertha take away from their hard-fought first league victory? Striker Florian Niederlechner found the answer easy. “Three points. That was very, very important,” said the 33-year-old after the 2-0 (0-0) win against newly promoted Jahn Regensburg. “You know very well, you’re the journalists, what would have happened if we had only drawn today, if we had only had two points from three games.”
Like last year, it would have been a false start in the 2nd Bundesliga, which would have put a dent in their promotion ambitions. Hertha can see themselves on the right track with their cup win in Rostock and four points from three games. “That gives them a lot of confidence, also in the new game system,” said the attacker, who scored the 2-0 goal in injury time.
In the first game without Haris Tabakovic, who has moved to the Bundesliga, Hertha struggled for a long time after a good start in the high temperatures. “You could already notice it after 20 or 25 minutes during the drinks break and also at half-time,” said Hertha’s sporting director Benjamin Weber about the influence of the heat.
Hertha takes advantage of numerical superiority
Young star Ibrahim Maza, who has been Hertha’s key player in the first weeks of the season, forced the lead in the 90th minute. His shot from a tight angle bounced off Regensburg’s keeper Felix Gebhardt and into the goal. It was counted as an own goal.
Cristian Fiél’s team also took advantage of a phase of numerical superiority. Regensburg substitute Mansour Ouro-Tagba was shown the red card for a foul on Niederlechner (76th minute). “Today we had that little bit on our side. But I also say: you have to work on that little bit over a period of time. I think we did that,” said the coach.
The good start fizzles out
Fiél put summer signing Luca Schuler in the starting eleven for Tabakovic, who left for Hoffenheim on Friday. The 25-year-old could have made his predecessor forgotten after just five minutes in front of 42,355 spectators at the Olympic Stadium. He made a good run in the penalty area, but then shot the ball well over the goal from a great position.
“From the outside, it’s always easy to explain. Take your time and just push him in. But it wasn’t meant to be today,” said Fiél, defending his attacker. “The boy has quality and we will have a lot of fun with him.”
Regensburg gets chances
The home team began with good pressing and passing, but then became increasingly erratic. Regensburg cleverly used this to create opportunities after switching play. Dominik Kother was unable to get the ball past the Berlin defense after a great individual move (21′). After a Hertha pass went wrong, Christian Kühlwetter almost took the lead with a shot from just behind the halfway line (36′).
In the second half, neither team found much power. Even a triple substitution by Fiél did not change this until Maza, after a nice combination, and Niederlechner forced the win with a powerful shot.
