Hoffenheim grab first away win since November

After four away defeats in a row and no victory on the road since November, 1899 were understandably cautious in the opening exchanges. Indeed, Berlin began strongly and almost notched an early strike when Marvin Compper's mistake at the back allowed Theofanis Gekas sight of goal, only for the Greek international to drag his effort wide of the far post. From thereon in the hosts struggled as Hoffenheim began to take control of the match without seriously threatening the home side's goal. The travelling fans had to wait until the 35th minute for their side's first good chance of the game, but to their delight it was converted expertly as Demba Ba made his way into the Berlin box before finishing with aplomb into the far corner.

After the break, Hoffenheim were able to sit deep in their own half, rarely taking the opportunity to counter. Hertha did their best to get forward but offered little in the way of penetration, leaving 1899 keeper Timo Hildebrand with precious little to ponder. With Joe Simunic performing admirably at the back against his former employers, Hoffenheim had the license to venture forward once again in the closing stages and sewed up the three points in injury time when Vedad Ibisevic received the ball from Carlos Eduardo before tricking his way past Steve von Bergen and finishing emphatically past the helpless Jaroslav Drobny for his ninth goal of the season.

The only negative for Hoffenheim was that Isaac Vorsah picked up a knee injury whilst challenging for the ball with Hertha's Adrian Ramos and now looks likely to miss around six weeks of action. Next up for 1899 is Thomas Tuchel's Mainz 05, who visit the Rhein-Neckar-Arena next Sunday - kick off 17:30 CET.

Quotes

 

Ralf Rangnick
It was a hard-fought victory and aside from the first 15 minutes I thought we defended well. In the second half Hertha had no chance and that's why we deservedly won the game.

Arne Friedrich
We did our best to put them under pressure from the off and we looked good at times. Hoffenheim did exactly what we had planned to do - keep tight and hit them on the counter. They continued to pressure after the goal and we couldn't do anything about it. Being nutmegged for the goal was a bit annoying, but that's football.

Josip Simunic
It was great fun coming back to Berlin, it's always going to be a very special place for me. It was important that we got the win and most of all that we showed team spirit and a will to win.

Demba Ba
We wanted to win at all costs today and we put a lot into it. We'll be taking things one game at a time, anything else would be silly at this point.

Andreas Ibertsberger
We put in a focussed performance from start to finish today. We put in a lot of energy and deserved to take home all three points.

Friedhelm Funkel
We played well for the first 30 minutes and created a couple of chances. Hoffenheim were a bit shaky towards the start but we were unable to take advantage of that and if you don't take your chances, you'll be punished. We were chasing the game in the second half and were a bit hectic. Hoffenheim defended well and we should have been more alert when they countered.

Fabian Lustenberger
We started well and had a few chances. After going behind we did our best but conceded again right at the end. Now we need to hope our rivals drop points as well.

 

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