Vedad Ibisevic leads Hertha Berlin past Hannover on 300th game
Jordan Torunarigha and Vedad Ibisevic scored the goals on the latter’s 300th Bundesliga appearance as Hertha Berlin beat Hannover 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Hannover 0-2 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 0-1 Torunarigha (44’), 0-2 Ibisevic (73')
The visitors from the capital started brightly with Australia winger Mathew Leckie, who was a doubt for this match due to illness, nearly putting a dangerous ball into the box within 30 seconds. Hannover responded well and had chances of their own with striker Niclas Füllkrug twice threatening to open the scoring. Hertha keeper Rune Jarstein was alert throughout the half, though, rushing off his line to thwart a promising attack before catching a dangerous Füllkrug header midway through the half. Ibisevic nearly put Hertha ahead on 40 minutes, but his header went just over the bar. There was still time for Germany U21 centre-back Jordan Torunarigha to head in from a corner to score his first goal of the season, giving Hertha the lead and setting up an exciting second half.
Hannover made a strong start to the second half as they looked to redress the balance, but couldn’t do enough to turn the tide. After a quarter of an hour Ibisevic thought he had the goal to mark his 300th appearance when he put the ball in the back of the net, only to see the goal ruled out for offside in the build-up. The Bosnian international would not have to wait long, however. First-half hero Torunarigha remained high up the pitch after a set piece and was on hand to deliver a no-look cross from the byline and find Ibisevic unmarked in the centre of the area. The captain nodded in cleanly to score his 115th Bundesliga goal and calm Hertha nerves.
Match stats
- Ibisevic scored his 115th Bundesliga goal on his 300th appearance. Claudio Pizarro (193) and Robert Lewandowski (185) are the only active non-Germans with more goals to their name.Torunarigha's opener was his third Bundesliga goal - all three have been headers.His last league goal also came against Hannover - in a 3-1 win last December.Mathew Leckie won more than 90 percent of his challanges in the first half.Walace touched the ball more times than any other player.
Want more Bundesliga Action?
Line-ups
Hannover: Esser – Korb (Weydandt 69’), Elez, Anton (c), Albornoz – Muslija (Haraguchi 66’), Bakalorz (Schwegler 53’), Walace, Maina – Füllkrug, Wood
Unused subs: Tschauner, Sorg, Asano, Wimmer
Absentees: Felipe (muscular), Hübers, Prib (both knee), Sarenren Bazee (concussion)
Coach: Andre Breitenreiter
Hertha: Jarstein – Lazaro, Torunarigha, Lustenberger, Plattenhardt – Leckie (Dardai 87’), Maier, Grujic, Kalou (Mittelstädt 69’) – Selke, Ibisevic (c) (Köpke 80’)
Unused subs: Kraft, Skjelbred, Duda, Luckassen
Absentees: Dilrosun (thigh), Gersbeck (cruciate ligament), Kade (ankle), Klünter (thigh), Rekik (hamstring), Stark (foot)
Coach: Pal Dardai
As it happened