Draw in final friendly in Liège
Pál Dárdai sent out his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The back four was made up of new signings Toni Leistner and Jeremy Dudziak as well as Deyovaisio Zeefuik and Marc Kempf, with Oliver Christensen in goal. The double pivot was made up of Pascal Klemens and Márton Dárdai, with Marten Winkler, Marco Richter and Fabian Reese ahead of them. Florian Niederlechner played as a lone striker.
Hertha had the first effort at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, but Richter’s shot from the edge of the box was too central and landed comfortably into the arms of Liège’s goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart (5’). At the other end, Zeefuik made a crucial sliding tackle to prevent a shot in the box after Romaine Mundle had initially broken through on the left (12’). Winkler had the next chance of note, but he narrowly missed the goal from distance (25’). The same went for Standard’s Noah Ohio, who dragged his shot just wide of the goal having been sent through one-on-one with Christensen after 31 minutes. The score stayed at 0-0, with both teams going in level after a balanced half with chances on both sides.
Kempf puts Hertha ahead – equaliser comes shortly before full time
Dárdai made two changes at half time, bringing on Tjark Ernst and Jonjoe Kenny. A well-worked corner routine provided the opener for Hertha, with Richter’s ball in flicked on by Klemens at the near post before being smashed home by Kempf at the back post (58’). Eliyas Strasner and Wilfried Kanga came on to provide more fresh legs shortly after, before Ernst made a comfortable save from a Standard shot on target (64’). At the other end, Richter almost doubled the lead with an audacious chip from nearly the halfway line which struck the crossbar (69’).
Ten minutes before the end of the game, there were three more subs, with Derry Scherhant, Bence Dárdai and Tony Rölke coming on. The hosts equalised just before full time, with Denis Drăguș curling home from the edge of the box. Scherhant almost found an instant reply, but his left-footed shot went wide of the right-hand post, meaning the game ended in a draw.
Hertha BSC: Christensen (46' Ernst) – Zeefuik (46' Kenny), Leistner, Kempf, Dudziak (62' Strasner) – Klemens, M. Dárdai – Winkler (79' Scherhant), Richter (C) (79' B. Dárdai), Reese (79' Rölke) – Niederlechner (62' Kanga)
Goals: 0-1 Kempf (58'), 1-1 Drăguș (85')
Yellow cards: Balikwisha, Dönnum – Kempf, Strasner