Wolves earn local bragging rights with Hannover win
Hanover - Wolfsburg kept up the pressure on FC Bayern München at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Hannover 96 in a Lower Saxony derby.
Perisic the architect
Kevin De Bruyne's second goal of the season gave the Wolves an early lead, but Hannover were rewarded for a strong response with Joselu's equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Ivan Perisic then took charge of matters for Dieter Hecking's men, setting up goals for Bas Dost and Maximilian Arnold to earn the Wolves another three points.
The contest started as it meant to go on with Hiroshi Kiyotake scuppering the first chance after only a handful of minutes. At the other end, the Hannover defence failed to clear a long Diego Benaglio clearance which landed at the feet of Ivan Perisic, who headed into De Bruyne's path for the Belgium international to net his second goal of the season. Hannover took a while to recover from the early blow, but they came back strongly, levelling just before half-time when Joselu headed Jimmy Briand's cross into the net.
Benaglio saved well from a Lars Stindl volley before Hecking decided to change his attack, bringing Bas Dost on for Ivica Olic. The move paid off as Dost headed in Perisic's cross for his first goal of the campaign, restoring Wolfsburg's lead which they extended five minutes from time. Perisic was again the architect, sending a ball through for another of Hecking's substitutes, Arnold, to seal victory.
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