"I can’t imagine a birthday much better than that!"

As the board showed that there would be six minutes of additional time, there was a chorus of cheers around the Olympiastadion. At this point, Hertha held a narrow 2-1 lead over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Just minutes later, and the Blue-Whites had sewn up the three points, and could enjoy the long period of additional time a bit more. Despite pressure from the Foals,  Derry Scherhant scored his first goal for Hertha and Dodi Lukébakio converted a penalty to give Hertha a 4-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach; a successful game with the perfect result. ”That was very, very important. We needed these three points,” said Tolga Ciğerci. Birthday boy Márton Dárdai scored a brilliant goal put Hertha ahead. “Starting eleven, goal and three points – I can’t imagine a birthday much better than that. On the pitch, the shot almost didn’t feel real,” said the defender. herthabsc.com has summarised all of the immediate reaction to the game.

Tolga Ciğerci: That was very, very important. We needed these three points. We prepared really intensively as a team together with the coaching staff. We then fought from the start until the end on the pitch, ran a lot and won deservedly in the end. The back-three worked well, but regardless of the system, we worked together, defended together and went forward together. We will pick up wins like this. If I am able to help the team, I’m happy about it.

Márton Dárdai: Starting eleven, goal and three points – I can’t imagine a birthday much better than that. On the pitch, the shot almost didn’t feel real (grins). I would definitely say that my last goal in a competitive game was a little while ago. It was in 2018 for the U17s! Obviously, the three points is the most important thing. We have shown that we’re still alive, which is unbelievably important. It is an important step in the right direction, we have to keep going.

Marc Kempf: It is difficult to describe right now. You saw that we wanted it so much, even if the first 20, 25 minutes didn’t go as we’d hoped. But how we came back after going behind, how engaged we were, this hard work. There were lots of small things that were decisive: If everyone always takes that extra step and we help each again and again, we are in the position to beat other teams. This has to be the way that we play in the rest of the games in order to pick up more points. This result should give us a lift and give us confidence ahead of the upcoming challenging task in Dortmund.

Derry Scherhant: It’s an unbelievable feeling, I’m speechless. To score a goal at the Olympiastadion for Hertha BSC is exactly what I’ve dreamt of my entire life. I can hardly put it into words, it is the exact thing that I work for day after day. The ball came to me about thigh-high and I thought to myself just have a go - and I’m really happy that the ball went in. It was a huge weight off our shoulders, as you can see that from the long celebrations with the supporters. It was a really important win for us – and exactly what we want to build on in the coming weeks!

Dodi Lukébakio: It feels really good. Our last win before this was a while ago, so it is even nicer to win at home again. The fans supported us amazingly. It is a special day for Márton and for Derry – just brilliant! It can happen that you go behind, but despite that we kept going, worked hard and were rewarded for that. We have to take this confidence with us. Now, we can enjoy this moment for a bit and then we will look ahead to Dortmund.