No joy for Werkself in 2-0 defeat against Hertha

“You can’t come back from two goals down every time. Hertha were very, very clever today. We could have played forever and we still wouldn’t have got a result,” Sven Bender reflected afterwards. Kevin Volland agreed: “Our passing wasn’t crisp, and we rarely got into dangerous positions. Hertha struck ruthlessly. At the end of the day it’s an unlucky defeat and we’re obviously disappointed. But we’ll put it behind us mentally, analyse the game and then pick up where we left off before.”

 For the visit of Hertha, Heiko Herrlich was without captain Lars Bender, who strained a groin in the DFB Cup tie against Werder Bremen. Benny Henrichs took over at right-back. Herrlich also made four unenforced changes compared to the Werder clash with Panos Retsos, Julian Baumgartlinger, Karim Bellarabi and Lucas Alario taking over from Wendell, Charles Aránguiz, Kai Havertz and Leon Bailey, who all began on the bench. For Hertha, fit-again number one keeper Rune Jarstein resumed duty between the sticks.

 The Carnival season is in full swing at the moment and that was evident at the BayArena where a host of Bayer 04 fans attended the match in fancy dress, making light of the cool and damp weather. Hertha BSC, still without a win in 2018 before the match, had not come to Leverkusen to join in the fun but rather with the intention of pooping the party. “We’ll be courageous and enterprising,” Berlins CEO Michael Preetz declared beforehand.

 However, the Werkself were quicker out of the blocks, Alario just failing to connect with a Bellarabi centre (6’) and Retsos forcing Hertha keeper Jarstein into an excellent save from a Julian Brandt corner (9’). The visitors tried their luck from long range but both Marvin Plattenhardt’s free-kick (8’) and Vladimir Darida’s hopeful shot (21’) drifted wide of the target. The momentum was with Bayer 04 but final passes went astray in the last third for a spell – either that or a Hertha player intervened at the last second, including Jordan Torunarigha, who slid in to clear Brandt’s angled pass just ahead of the unmarked Volland (26’).

LAZARO NETS SURPRISE OPENER 

Hertha Berlin were proving to be tricky opponents, just as Herrlich had predicted, with a well-organised rearguard closing down space effectively. The visitors were set up to defend so their opening goal came against the run of play. After Leverkusen lost possession in midfield, Darida raced down the left and set up Lazaro to fire past Leno into the far corner. Referee Patrick Ittrich consulted the video assistant in Cologne before confirming the goal, but Darida was adjudged to have won the ball cleanly before feeding Lazaro. The goal stood and Hertha took a flattering lead with them into the dressing room at the break. “We’re basically in control of the game and giving a decent account of ourselves, but we’re not getting any shots away,” injured captain Lars Bender said at half-time.​

RUTHLESS Kalou

After the interval, the Werkself continued to make little headway against Hertha, who even doubled their lead shortly before the hour. In the chase after Pekarik’s long clearance, Kalou got the better of Jonathan Tah and held his nerve under pressure before slotting past Leno. The visitors’ second strike took the wind out of the home side’s sails for a while.

Bellarabi (67’) and Kohr (69’) tried their luck from distance, but the best chance of pulling one back arrived on 72 minutes. Jarstein played the ball with his hands a second time in the box, prompting referee Ittrich to award an indirect free-kick. Lustenberger blocked sub Bailey’s seven-metre shot on the line, Volland smashed the loose ball onto the underside of the bar, and Alario was unable to get power on his follow-up. The Werkself were plain unlucky not to cut the arrears in this situation.

Herrlich’s men roused themselves for a late rally. Joel Pohjanpalo replaced Dominik Kohr but saw his header saved by Jarstein shortly after coming on (78’), and despite the home team’s efforts there would be no further goals, Hertha’s Lazaro firing the last clear-cut chance of the match against the bar (87’). The defeat sees Bayer 04 slip to fifth in the standings, but Herrlich’s side are still only three points off second-placed RB Leipzig.

The Werkself are next in Bundesliga action away to Hamburg SV. The match at the Volksparkstadion kicks off at 15.30 CET on Saturday 17 February.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Leno – Henrichs (Bailey 57'), Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Kohr (Pohjanpalo 77.), Baumgartlinger – Bellarabi, Brandt (Havertz 67')  – Alario, Volland

Hertha Berlin: Jarstein - Pekarik, Stark, Torunarigha (Skjelbred 54'), Plattenhardt - Maier, Lustenberger - Lazaro, Darida (Mittelstädt 88'), Kalou (Leckie 80') - Selke

Goals: 0-1 Lazaro (43'), 0-2 Kalou (58')

Referee: Patrick Ittrich (Hamburg)

Booked: Kohr, Retsos - Lustenberger, Lazaro

Attendance: 25,600