Hannover humble Hamburg
Hanover - Didier Ya Konan was on target twice as Hannover 96 took northern Germany rivals Hamburger SV apart with a 5-1 victory.
Compounding the misery
Mame Diouf, Szabolcs Huszti and Mohamed Abdellaoue also scored for the Reds, with Rafael van der Vaart netting a consolation from the penalty spot.
Hannover took the lead after their first attack of the game as Huszti curled in a free-kick, which Diouf nodded in from close range as early as the seventh minute.
Their lead lasted only five minutes before a penalty allowed Hamburg to level. Van der Vaart stepped up to the spot to beat Zieler, who has yet to save a penalty in the Bundesliga in five attempts. Yet Hannover attacked again and regained the lead through a penalty of their own, Huszti on target from the spot this time. And just before the break, Ya Konan doubled Hannover’s advantage with a stunning long-range volley.
Van der Vaart missed the chance to give the visitors a lifeline in the 65th minute, when he was denied by Zieler in a one-on-one situation. It was costly miss as just three minutes later Ya Konan notched Hannover’s fourth after Adler failed to cut out Konstantin Rausch’s low cross. Abdellaoue compounded HSV’s misery five minutes from time, scoring from a tight angle.
Line-ups and statistics
