Hertha reaction

Fin Bartels: “That was the perfect start. Taking an early lead of course helped us. We were clinical going forward in the first-half. The second-half wasn’t so good. We tried our best, but we gave the ball away too often. In the end, we’re pleased with the win, but in Köln we will need two good halves.”

Felix Wiedwald: “It felt as though the game was decided after 20 minutes. I wanted us to put the game to bed on the counter, but we played intelligently once we had the lead. When you’re 2-0 up at home then, in my opinion, you’re allowed to take the sting out of the game. It’s credit to us that, at the moment, we’re in a position to do that.”

Robert Bauer: “At the start everything came together. We started the game very well, forced mistakes through our pressing and took the lead with a classy counter attack. Hertha came back a bit in the second-half. We knew that it would get harder so our aim was to keep a clean sheet. Hertha have a lot of quality in my eyes, but we deserved to win, we were the better team.”

Alexander Nouri: “I saw a very good first-half display in which we created our chances well, played well and had a good structure to our play. We weren’t intense enough in the second-half and we gave the ball away too cheaply when trying to attack. However, we concentrated hard and didn’t let much through and, in the end, deserved to win.”

Frank Baumann: “I think we deserved to win today. From the 30th minute onwards we protected the lead a little too much for my liking, when we could have scored again. If you concede before the end when it’s 2-0 then it can get a little tense. But if you defend solidly when you have the lead then there’s no drama.”