Hertha beaten 1-0 by Derby County

Following on from this morning’s friendly, head coach Sandro Schwarz sent out his team in a 4-3-3 formation for the trip to face Derby County at Pride Park Stadium – an atmospheric and typically English football arena in the middle of the city on the River Derwent. Hertha took over the early initiative, though the first 20 minutes passed without any notable chances, albeit not without some intricate interplay. A well-worked press produced the first opening for Suat Serdar as he bore down on Wildsmith one on one, but the hosts’ goalkeeper was able to get a decisive touch on the shot to deflect it over the top (22’). While both teams showed desire, the effects of preseason were also visible in their exchanges. The home side, who were relegated from the Championship last season, grew more and more into the game and rewarded their efforts with a goal before the break. Oliver Christensen was able to keep out the initial shot and the rebound hit the post, but it was third time lucky for Mendez-Laing as he finally found a way through to make it 1-0 (39’).

The first dangerous of the moment after the restart came from Dodi Lukebakio. After being played in by Myziane, a drop of the shoulder opened up space to shoot and he was only denied by post (58’). Derby County were also left frustrated by the woodwork soon after from Knight’s free-kick (62’). Deyovaisio Zeefuik then replaced Prince Boateng for the Old Lady, with the hosts making a string of changes themselves. The next chance fell to Davie Selke and although goalkeeper Wildsmith came out on top once again, the offside flag had already gone up (75’). It was the Hertha striker’s final action too, with Luca Wollschläger replacing the number 7 a minute later. Two promising counterattacking opportunities broke down for Schwarz’s men with around ten minutes to go, first when Myziane’s pass didn’t quite find Lukébakio in the centre, before a Derby defender got a last-ditch block in the way of a shot from the Frenchman (80’). Down the other end, Christensen made a strong save to keep out Stretton. After Zeefuik failed to make more of a headed opportunity in the 87th minute, Hertha’s first preseason defeat was confirmed in what was their fifth friendly. The Berliners are back in action again on Wednesday against Nottingham Forest (20.07.22, 20:00 CEST).

Derby County: Wildsmith (77’ Loach) – Knight (77’ Aghatise), Davies (61’ Forsyth), Chester (46’ Cashin), Roberts (61’ Stretton) – Mendez-Laing (61’ Stearman), Bird (77’ Robinson), Hourihane (61’ Sibley), Barkhuizen (69’ Nunn) – McGoldrick (46’ Oduro), Collins (61’ Thompson) 

Hertha BSC: Christensen – Kenny, Gechter, Kempf, Plattenhardt – Prince (63’ Zeefuik), Sunjić, Serdar – Lukébakio, Selke (76’ Wollschläger), Myziane

Goals: 1-0 Mendez-Laing (39’)

Yellow cards: - / Gechter

Attendance: 7,043