Defeat in final pre-season friendly
The Hawthorns is a proper English football stadium, and Hertha entered the pitch to face West Bromwich Albion in a 4-3-3 formation. The first chance of the game belonged to the home side, as Oli Christensen and Jonjoe Kenny denied attempts from Jed Wallace and Jayson Molumby respectively (8’). At the other end, though, Hertha found the net from their first chance, as Davie Selke found the net past David Button following fine build-up play from Myziane Maolida (13’). Goalscorer then turned provider for the next Hertha chance, setting up new vice-captain Prince Boateng who could only shoot wide on 21 minutes. Sandro Schwarz’s side had more of the ball and did not let anything through defensively, but were unable to find the gaps in the Baggies’ staunch defence. The Championship side had the biggest chance in the closing stages, as John Swift hit the crossbar with a 20-yard free kick on 42 minutes.
The second half began with no changes, but one was enforced just four minutes after the restart, as Suat Serdar came off injured and was replaced by Lucas Tousart. As the half continued, Chidera Ejuke entered the fray for his first minutes as a Herthaner, coming on alongside Deyo Zeefuik, the pair replacing Boateng and Myziane just after the hour mark. The away side continued to have more of the game, but lacked conviction in the final pass. On one of the Baggies’ few forays forward, Kyle Bartley failed to trouble Christensen with a low shot (64’). Then, the game was turned on its head in the space of three minutes. Swift first tapped in a cross with 20 to go, before Daryl Dike headed in to give West Brom the lead (70’, 73’). Stevan Jovetić entered the fray for fresh legs up front in between the two goals, and was then joined in attack by Luca Wollschläger, but the attacking changes did not change the scoreline. A low shot from our number 19 was denied by Button with just under 10 minutes to go, so the game ended 2-1 to the home side.
West Bromwich Albion: Button – Furlong, Bartley (C) (68’ Ajayi), O'Shea, Townsend – Molumby, Swift, Mowatt – Wallace (83’ Gardner-Hickman), Grant (68‘ Dike), Phillips (68‘ Diangana)
Hertha BSC: Christensen – Kenny, Boyata, Kempf, Plattenhardt (C) – Šunjić (80‘ Wollschläger), Serdar (49‘ Tousart), Boateng (62‘ Zeefuik) – Lukébakio, Selke (71‘ Jovetić), Myziane (62‘ Ejuke)
Goals: 0-1 Selke (13‘). 1-1 Swift (70‘), 2-1 Dike (73‘)
Referee: Bobby Madley