Hertha BSC has achieved the hoped-for liberation. The Berliners celebrate their first win of the new year against Gladbach. Also because Marton Dardai managed a Sunday shot on his birthday.
After Marton Dardai picked up congratulations from teammates and fans, the birthday boy looked forward to meeting Papa Pal.
The former coach of Hertha BSC proudly watched from the stands of the Olympic Stadium as his son presented himself with a dream goal on his 21st birthday. The Filius led the Berlin Bundesliga team, which was deep in the relegation battle, to their first win of the new year in a 4-1 (1-1) win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
“I’ll go in right away, take a shower – and then I’ll meet him,” revealed Dardai junior immediately after the final whistle on DAZN. But it didn’t need the praise of his father and great sponsor for the perfect day. “It was the best birthday for me so far,” said the defender, whose first Bundesliga goal couldn’t have been better: Dardai hammered the ball in the 52nd minute from around 25 meters with a powerful left-footed shot to give the enormously important 2-1 lead under the bar of the Gladbach goal.
Hertha now in front of Stuttgart
“I’m happy that he got his reward today,” said Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz about his central defender, who recently scored a competitive goal in the U17s: “He bravely defended many actions – and the bonus was the sensational goal.”
More important than the personal sense of achievement for Dardai, however, were the first three points for Hertha after the World Cup break. After four defeats in a row, the capital club pushed VfB Stuttgart from relegation rank 16 and can feel like the winner of the relegation battle on the 20th matchday. He was “a little relieved,” admitted Schwarz, and “looking at happy faces is a lot more fun” during the debriefing on Monday.
Before Dardai’s shot on Sunday, Jessic Ngankam equalized the visitors’ lead through Nico Elvedi (17th) after half an hour. Substitutes Derry Scherhant (90 + 1) and Dodi Lukebakio (90 + 7 / penalty) made the final score in a hectic final phase in front of 40,973 spectators in the Olympic Stadium.
Gladbach leaves points in the basement
A week after the 0-0 draw against Schalke 04, Gladbach missed a win against a league kid for the second time in a row. Normally, you “have the right to win these games,” said national player Jonas Hofmann, “but we don’t have to make any big changes to the way we do it now.”
Coach Daniel Farke also watched his team play “a great away game” for 30 minutes, especially since the Berliners “brought out all the guys who can run, fight and fight”. But Farke also criticized the defensive behavior: “We didn’t give everything to defend our goal with all our might.”
However, Herthan’s Suat Serdar made an unfortunate impression when Elvedi led Gladbach after a corner kick. But the hosts were also able to take their first chance right away. Cigerci cleared Marco Richter with a hoe, who passed the ball to the scorer Ngankam. It was only Hertha’s second goal this year.
After Dardai’s dream goal, Gladbach increased the pressure, but were also vulnerable to counterattacks. The hosts took full advantage of this and in the end clinched a deserved victory, which was not only “one or two goals too high” for Hofmann.
Source: Stern
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