AOn the sidelines, on an advertising mat in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, Filip Kostic sat and grimaced. The pain that ran through his body at that moment could not be alleviated by the busy carers either. No matter what they did, Kostic kept shaking his head. It quickly became clear that he couldn’t go on. Steven Zuber, the Swiss, came in for Kostic, and the game between Hertha BSC and Eintracht Frankfurt was just fifteen minutes over. Nevertheless, Eintracht won 3-1 on Friday evening and is currently in first place in the table with four points.
Hertha coach Bruno Labbadia had repeatedly warned about Kostic in advance, in his view the left wing player is a key figure in the Frankfurt game and actually changed after the injury to the Serb, whom Jordan Torunarigha had jumped against the knee during a rescue operation Statics of this meeting. Only – contrary to what Labbadia suspected – not to the detriment of Eintracht. Instead of increasingly over the left side, many attacks ran over the right side, where Almamy Touré eagerly hit crosses into the opponent’s penalty area.
One of them headed André Silva just over the goal (25th minute). The Portuguese was again in the spotlight shortly afterwards when he entered the penalty area and was illegally stopped by Hertha’s Dedryck Boyata. Boyata, who had just been elected as the new captain by his team-mates, had already caused trouble in his own ranks several times last season and owed three penalties. Silva converted the penalty kick himself (30th).
For Frankfurt it was the deserved lead, at times the Hessians had more than 70 percent possession of the ball. But after various transfers, Hertha has strong individualists, especially on the offensive, who are able to turn the game with a single action. The Berliners, who had had great trouble getting in front of the Frankfurter Tor, suddenly combined nicely into the last third, but the Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was able to parry Dodi Lukebakio’s attempt (33rd). Before the Berliners could get drunk on the successful toy, Frankfurt struck back. After a free kick by Daichi Kamada, Bas Dost prevailed robustly against his guardians Boyata and Torunarigha and headed to the 0: 2. (36.).
The Eintracht presentation seemed smoother, the processes rehearsed and the interaction between the individual parts of the team more solid. Although Frankfurt was in the lead with two set pieces, the goals were an expression of complete superiority. The team of coach Adi Hütter was ahead in all relevant areas. She won more tackles, brought more and more players behind the ball with a lot of running effort and convinced with clever ball possession.
On the ground of facts: Hertha striker Dodi Lukebakio
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Image: Reuters
Hertha ran behind most of the time in their own stadium, apart from a few individual actions, not much happened on the offensive. The soloists did not join a choir, Hertha is still looking for reinforcements. “In the first half we played almost like a school team,” said the new Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow at DAZN. “We missed the first half and have to touch our own noses. Overall it wasn’t enough today. “
The new sports director Arne Friedrich confirmed interest in a commitment of the former national player Mario Götze during the half-time break. Hertha could have used an idol in the form of earlier days in the second half as well, even if the existing staff showed that it can certainly provide revitalization. Jhon Cordoba came on for the weak Poland’s Krzysztof Piatek, which had a positive effect on the Berlin offensive.
After almost an hour, the Frankfurt team were lucky that Dodi Lukebakio’s proven strengths did not necessarily include the header game. After a free kick, the Belgian did not get the ball properly (57th). Frankfurt suddenly lost its rhythm, in the defense there were ever larger gaps. Above all Matheus Cunha used this skillfully and repeatedly posed problems for the Eintracht back team. Following a combination over the Brazilian, Cordoba tried over the gate (65th).
Just at the moment when the game threatened to tip over, Eintracht made the decision. Sebastian Rode closed a counterattack with a placed shot from the edge of the box into the far corner (71.). Hertha did not give up anyway, after an energetic solo from Torunarigha, Martin Hinteregger pushed the ball into his own goal in front of Cordoba, who was ready to shoot (78th). But the Frankfurters presented themselves too confidently that evening to give up the safe leadership. “We held on very well from the first minute and played well forward,” said Rode.
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