Mame Diouf (r.) got Hannover off to a seventh-minute flier at home to Hamburg...
Mame Diouf (r.) got Hannover off to a seventh-minute flier at home to Hamburg...
Five star Hannover hammer Hamburg - Augsburg resurgent
Munich - Hannover 96 bounced back from the disappointment of their UEFA Europa League exit with a resounding 5-1 victory over Hamburger SV, while FC Augsburg took the spoils in a relegation cracker against 1899 Hoffenheim. bundesliga.com rounds up the rest of the Saturday afternoon action.
Hannover 96 5-1 Hamburger SV
Didier Ya Konan was on target twice as Hannover 96 took northern Germany rivals Hamburger SV apart with a 5-1 victory. Mame Diouf, Szabolcs Huszti and Mohamed Abdellaoue also scored for the Reds, with Rafael van der Vaart scoring 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.
Compounding the misery
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.
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FC Augsburg 2-1 1899 Hoffenheim
Second-from bottom going into the match, Augsburg were keen to overhaul 16th-placed Hoffenheim from the off and started impressively, dictating the pace and creating all the pressure, despite failing to find a way past the visitors' bulwark for most of the first half.
South Korean pair Dong-Won Ji and Ja-Cheol Koo looked particularly lively in midfield, both missing the first opportunities for the youngest side Augsburg have ever fielded in the top flight, with an average of just 25.1 years. However, winter signing Ji did better just before half time, volleying Matthias Ostrzolek's long ball into the top left corner.
Exciting finale
Hoffenheim offered only one half-chance before the interval - an Eren Derdiyok's free-kick - and likewise provided very little going forward after the restart. Augsburg, who have lost only once this year, showed no signs of decreasing their dominance and came close when Sascha Mölders threatened Heurelho Gomes' goal from long range.
Mölders had two further efforts denied shortly afterwards, but did better ten minute from time, finishing Koo's brilliant through-ball to make it 2-0. With matters seemingly decided, Augsburg shifted down a gear. That helped Hoffenheim to create opportunities and allowed substitute Igor de Camargo to pull one back, yet the Sinsheim side's desperate efforts came too late as Markus Weinzierl's men picked up their third victory in the current campaign.
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VfB Stuttgart 1-1 1.FC Nuremberg
Ibrahima Traore’s 51st-minute goal was not enough for VfB Stuttgart to win their second game in a row as Markus Feulner pegged them back in the 77th minute to earn 1.FC Nuremberg a share of the spoils.
With the tiredness from a fruitful trip to Genk still in their legs, Stuttgart appeared happy to just sit back and let Nuremberg do all of the early running. The Bavarians enjoyed more of the ball, yet the home side punctuated what possession they did have with the better chances. The first was a weak header from Martin Harnik when he should really have tested Raphael Schäfer, who was made to work even harder to turn Vedad Ibisevic’s header away just before the break.
Feulner makes point
Stuttgart opened the scoring early in the second half when Traore grabbed his fourth goal for the club, pouncing on a parry from Schäfer who found Harnik’s shot too hot to handle. Stuttgart took heart from their lead but Nuremberg levelled during the hosts' best spell of the match.
Following the arrival of a fourth Japanese player onto the field in Shinji Okazaki, Feulner netted his third of the season, Nuremberg’s first away from home in 2013, bringing Der Club level and earning them a valuable point.
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1. FSV Mainz 05 1-1 VfL Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg went into the game having only won one of their previous four encounters, but began the action-packed first half confidently. Their intention to play it out from the back, however, cost them dearly, when Niki Zimling picked up a sloppy pass from goalkeeper Diego Benaglio to strike his first Bundesliga goal in only his second appearance.
The Wolves' reply was not long in coming, as defender Naldo headed in from Jan Polak's cross for his fourth goal in the current campaign, moments after missing two good chances. The guests' dominance, however, was interrupted after half an hour when Alexander Madlung was red-carded.
Szalai squanders twice
The second half was somewhat flat compared to the opening 45 minutes. Mainz dictatded the proceedings, yet lacked creativity against a Wolfsburg side always looking dangerous on the break.
Mainz's leading goalscorer Adam Szalai should have done better when presented with two of the very few opportunities, but the Hungarian international failed on both occasions with only Benaglio to beat, as the home side's late efforts came to no further avail.
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