Hertha hand Dardai debut victory in Mainz
Mainz - Both sides had a man sent off, as Hertha Berlin put an end to a run of four games without a win as goals from Jens Hegeler and Roy Beerens saw them coast past 1. FSV Mainz 05 to hand interim head coach Pal Dardai a debut victory.
First-half strikes settle the score
Jos Luhukay’s successor made five changes to the side that lost to Bayer 04 Leverkusen in midweek, setting up his charges to stifle Mainz and seek out their opportunities on the break. Chances were few and far between, but when Lorius Karius dallied on the ball before bringing down Valentin Stocker in an attempt to clear his lines, the hosts found themselves a man down and a goal behind with Hegeler sweeping the spot-kick past substitute keeper Stefanos Kapinos, who had to pick the ball out of the back of the net a second time before the break.
Some sloppy defending allowed Stocker to break into the box and, having seen his initial effort blocked, proceeded to fire a second off the post with the rebound falling kindly for Beerens to slot past the bodies on the line. The capital city side came out in the second half with the clear objective of defending their two-goal lead and remained disciplined in executing their game plan, despite Fabian Lustenberger picking up a second bookable offence in the 58th minute. For all their possession Mainz posed little threat with only Shinji Okazaki going close with what would have been nothing more than a late consolation effort.
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