On Tayfun Korkut’s debut on the Hertha bench, the Berliners fell behind with 0:2 in Stuttgart but then VfB lost the thread – and Jovetic saved the draw.
VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo only brought on Al Ghaddioui for Karazor (bench) compared to the 2:1 against Mainz and thus aligned his team more offensively: The Swabians played in a 3-4-3 instead of the 3-5-2 they had been using lately.
The situation was completely different for Hertha, where new coach Tayfun Korkut experienced a Corona surprise on his debut. The Berliners announced shortly before kick-off that Tousart had tested positive for COVID-19 and was therefore unavailable, as was Serdar, who, unlike the Frenchman, had been in the starting eleven for the 1:1 against Augsburg Compared to the FCA game, Stark, Ekkelenkamp and Mittelstädt all found themselves on the bench. Boyata (after red suspension), Darida, Maolida and Belfodil were new in the starting line-up.
Berlin flash in the pan
Hertha showed commitment on the pitch at the start and were clearly structured in a 4-4-2. The Berliners made their first claims through Plattenhardt (2nd) and Belfodil (4th). However, the visitors’ brisk start quickly turned out to be a bit of a flash in the pan, as the Berliners soon cut an extremely unfortunate figure defensively – and that had consequences.
After Jovetic lost the ball in the Stuttgart penalty area, Anton simply knocked the ball forward, Marmoush escaped the slower Boyata and then gave Schwolow no chance in the one-on-one – 1:0 (15th).
Only four minutes later, Förster was allowed to march through the entire midfield almost unchallenged and scored from 18 metres in a central position to make it 2:0. Schwolow then prevented an even greater deficit with his save against Marmoush (22nd).
Stuttgart lets itself be infected
Berlin had conspicuously big problems with the pace of the Swabians, which was also due to the rest of the defence. Especially the counter-attack protection was deficient, but Stuttgart did not take advantage of that consistently, rather they even let themselves get infected and suddenly defended inadequately on their part – and that did not remain without consequences either.
In the 34th minute, VfB were lucky that Belfodil’s supposed goal was cancelled out due to a passive offside position by Darida after viewing the TV pictures, but Jovetic’s shot into the right corner counted (40th) – in both scenes, the Berliners were merely accompanied by the Swabian defence on their way into the penalty area.
Matarazzo brought on Tibidi for Massimo at the change of ends. The 18-year-old then shot just past from eleven metres on the left and thus provided the first noteworthy finish of the second half, which otherwise was rather sluggish. A lot of tackling and sloppy passing disrupted the flow of the game.
Hertha switches up a gear
VfB made the more pleasing impression, but were not consistent offensively and allowed themselves too many mistakes. Because there was hardly anything from the Berliners, the game was pretty much on the ropes for a long time. With a double change (Stark/Boateng came on for Richter/Torunarigha, 72nd), Korkut wanted to give his team new impetus – and the capital city team visibly stepped up a gear.
All of a sudden, Hertha was on the ball, took hold in the Swabian half and equalised: Plattenhardt’s cross was headed away by Belfodil for Jovetic at the second post. The Montenegrin skilfully took the ball and pushed it over the line from close range to make it 2:2 (76.).
The equaliser was not undeserved, VfB had looked exhausted and was too passive. In the final phase, however, the Swabians once again fought back against the threat of a draw – ultimately in vain.
Stuttgart’s next match is at Wolfsburg next Saturday (6.30 pm), while Hertha welcome Arminia from Bielefeld three hours earlier.
