Sane in from the cold to help Hannover down Augsburg
Hanover - Senegalese defender Salif Sane made a triumphant return to the Hannover 96 starting line-up to help the Reds to a 2-0 win over FC Augsburg on Tuesday evening.
Fairy-tale story
Sane, part of Hannover's reserve team up until recently, inadvertently opened his account for the season to give the Reds the lead inside 20 minutes before in-form Joselu sealed the points from the penalty spot in the second half.
After being demoted to the reserve team in the summer, the former AS Nancy-Lorraine man knuckled down and convinced coach Tayfun Korkut he still had a role to play in the team. He was duly rewarded with a first goal of the season, although he knew little of it when the ball struck the back of his head and found the net following Hiroshi Kiyotake's cross.
The opener was no less than the Lower Saxony side, inspired by the in-form Kiyotake's incursions down the wing, deserved for their efforts. They then doubled their lead early in the second half when Joselu earned a penalty, stepping up himself to convert from twelve yards. Augsburg responded with Halil Altintop and Raul Bobadilla going close to pulling one back, but home custodian Ron-Robert Zieler played his part to preserve three precious points.
Line-ups and statistics
