Robert Andrich snatches late draw for Bayer Leverkusen at Hertha Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen snatched a late point away to Hertha Berlin on Sunday as Robert Andrich pounced in the 90th minute to cancel out Stevan Jovetic's opener in a 1-1 draw.
Hertha 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 1-0 Jovetic 42’ (assist: Mittelstädt), 1-1 Andrich 90' (assist: Kossounou)
The first half in the Olympiastadion was all end-to-end action with chances for both sides. Andrich had a goal ruled out after VAR revealed that the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, while Jovetic and Suat Serdar had shooting opportunities that failed to seriously test Lukas Hradecky. It looked as though the teams would go goalless into the half-time break, but Jovetic had other ideas and produced a stunning shot on the turn to give the home side the lead.
After the break, Hertha retained the upper hand and did a good job controlling the action. The Old Lady allowed the visitors to have more of the ball, but remained disciplined and largely restricted Leverkusen to shots from outside the box. Leverkusen kept pushing for an equaliser and were rewarded for their efforts as the final whistle approached when Karim Demirbay floated a free-kick into the box that was headed down by Odilon Kossounou, leaving former Hertha man Andrich to poke in at the far post and earn his side a share of the spoils.
Match stats
- The Berliners are unbeaten in five against Die Werkself.
- This was Hertha's first draw in the Bundesliga this season.
- Iker Bravo became the first 16-year-old ever to play for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and the second youngest ever to play in Germany's top flight (16 years, 298 days), behind Youssoufa Moukoko.
- He was then knocked into third place when Zidan Sertdemir came on for his Bundesliga debut 22 days younger.
- Die Werkself are without a win in four Bundesliga games (D1, L3).
- Leverkusen are still yet to lose away from home in any competition under head coach Gerardo Seoane (W5, D4).
Watch: Hradecky: “Happy we escaped with a point”
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Line-ups
Hertha: Schwolow - Pekarik, Stark (c), M. Dardai, Plattenhardt - Ascacibar (Tousart 80'), Serdar - Richter (Ekkelenkamp 88'), Darida (Boateng 80'), Mittelstädt (Jastrzembski 88') – Jovetic (Selke 73')
Unused subs: Christensen, Piatek, Belfodil, Gechter
Out: Boyata (suspended), Klünter (shoulder), Torunarigha (thigh)
Coach: Pal Dardai
Leverkusen: Hradecky (c) - Frimpong (Kossounou 86'), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie (Sinkgraven 61') - Andrich, Palacios (Amiri 61') - Diaby (Serdemir 86'), Demirbay, Adli - Paulinho (Bravo 79')
Unused subs: Lomb, Lynev, Retsos
Out: Aranguiz (calf), Bakker (ankle), Baumgartlinger (knee), Bellarabi (hamstring), Fosu-Mensah (knee) Schick (ankle), Wirtz (hip)
Coach: Gerardo Seoane
Watch: Jovetic: “The Spiderman celebration was for my son”
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