Hertha Berlin 2 - 0 St Patricks Athletic

Second half goals from Maximilian Nicu and Cicero at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin made sure St. Pats have an uphill task ahead of them in the second leg in two weeks time.

In a close first half, goalscoring chances were hard to come by but the Saints coped well against superior opposition and looked comfortable on the ball. Hertha were well on top for the first 20 minutes and as early as the third 3rd minute the Saints were under pressure, a shot from Herta Berlin's Marko Pantelic hit the hand of Jason Gavin but the game continued. Pats spent the majority of the opening quarter chasing the ball but the German side rarely threatened besides a shot from Pantelic in which Barry Ryan saved well.

The Saints then became more confident and comfortable while having a much bigger share of the possession. With 5 minutes remaining in the first period Pats had their best chance of the half. Fahey played in Quigley on the right, who hit in a superb cross just missing out on O'Neill.

The home side came out all guns blazing after the break and after sustained pressure, half time substitute Nicu chested and volleyed the ball into the net after Pats keeper Barry Ryan punched the ball to the German, having made a series of saves in quick succession.

St. Pats spurned a wonderful opportunity after 59 minutes when a well worked free-kick by Fahey was headed across goal by Jamie Harris but it was cleared by Simunic. Pats next chance came 10 minutes later when Quigley played the ball through to find Gary O'Neill who squared the ball from the left but the ball fell short of the in-rushing Gary Dempsey.

Hertha kept pressurising the Dubliners requiring some heroic defending by Gavin and Dempsey. The scoreline remained at one-nil until the 77th minute when Cicero doubled the Berlin advantage. Andriy Voronin, who recently signed from Liverpool, played in Pantelic whose shot was deflected and Cicero slotted the ball calmly past Ryan.

Pats now return to Eircom League action as they try to narrow Bohemians lead with a trip to the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night against mid-table Bray Wanderers.

Hertha Berlin: Jaroslav Drobny; Kaka, Arne Friedrich, Cicero, Pal Dardai (Max Nicu 46), Marko Pantelic (Valeri Domovchiyski 83), Andriy Voronin, Marc Stein, Josip Simunic, Lukasz Piszczek, Gojko Kacar (Fabian Lustenberger 46).
Subs not used: Christopher Gang, Steve Von Bergen, Sofian Chahed.

St Patrick's Athletic: Barry Ryan; Damien Lynch, Jamie Harris, Jason Gavin, Des Byrne; Alan Kirby (Bobby Ryan 63), Gary Dempsey (Jaroslaw Bialek 90), Keith Fahey, Ryan Guy; Mark Quigley, Gary O'Neill (Glen Fitzpatrick 83).
Subs not used: Lance Friesz, Dave Rogers, Joe O'Cearuill, Derek O'Brien.

Referee: Tomasz Mikulski (Poland).

Attendance: 13,045

ExtraTime.ie Man of The Match: Marko Pantelic (Hertha Berlin) - He was a thorn in the Pats side all night. Honourable mention for Gary Dempsey.