These are the statistics of the game Hannover 96 vs. Vfl Bochum:

Hannover 96 - Vfl Bochum
22 : 12 shots at the goal
7 : 3 corner kicks
19 : 9 crosses
16 : 15 fouls
4 : 4 offsides
51% : 49% contacts with the ball
46% : 54% +challenges

Most shots at the goal:
96: Altin Lala (4)
96: Daniel Stendel (4)
Bochum: Zvjezdan Misimovic (3)

Most contacts with the ball:
96: Julian de Guzman (90)
Bochum: Martin Meichelbeck (77)

Most won challenges:
96: Dariusz Zuraw (71%)
Bochum: Martin Meichelbeck (100%)

Source: IMP-Fussballdaten

Hannover 96 have won again after yet another excellent performance on both sides of the ball produced a fine 3:0 (1:0) victory over visiting VfL Bochum and moved to the 4th in the table.

The fifth win in a row for Hannover 96 started with a goal from the former Bochum forward Thomas Christiansen (16th) followed by Daniel Stendel (64th) and the subbed Brazilian Leandro (88th).

Hannover played again with US defender Steven Cherundolo at right back position. Cherundolo who was out of the last game against Kaiserslautern due to a concussion suffered in a collision with Gladbach's Peer Kluge. 96 head coach Ewald Lienen had to put Czech Jiri Stajner (who scored two twice against Kaiserslautern) on the bench and the changes eventually panned out: Cherundolo got one assist and Stajner got the assist for the second goal.

After four consecutive wins, Hannover 96 began very self confident; the first chance through the Spaniard Thomas Christiansen who missed the ball trying a header after a cross from the the right flank from Stendel (1st).

9 minutes later German midfielder Sylvio Schröter proofed Bochum's goalkeeper Rein van Dujnhoven through a shot from a tight angle, but van Dujnhoven saved.

In the 12th German defender Michael Tarnat hammered a free kick from 35 yards near the right post and 4 minutes later US defender Steven Cherundolo beat Zvjezdan Misimovic on the right wing and crossed to the far post where a Christiansen volley found its mark, and the home side was in front 1-0.

96 kept dominating the game as Albanian midfielder Altin Lala shot from 13 yards at the goal (set up by playmaker Nebojsa Krupnikovic) saved by van Dujnhoven. Krupnikovic was next when his volley 3 minutes later met the same fate after a cross from Stendel.

It took 33 full minutes before Bochum had their first chance through a shot by Peter Madsen, well saved by Robert Enke saved.

Just one minute later referee Lutz Wagner didn't call a clear penalty for Hannover 96 after Marcel Maltritz tackled Stendel in the penalty area.

Bochum head coach Peter Neururer tried to react and subbed in the 3rd forward Tommy Bechmann, but 96 dominated the game regardless.

In the 49th a Schröter shot at goal was again saved by the best Bochum player, van Dujnhoven, and a few minutes later Enke tipped a shot from Tommy Bechmann over the bar.

55 minutes had elapsed when a Canadian midfielder Julian de Guzman header from 9 yards after a cross from Krupnikovic, but again saved by van Dujnhoven.

After one hour of the game Ewald Lienen subbed in Jiri Stajner for Silvio Schröter, and he had an immediate impact. After a mazy run from the left, he struck the ball from 22 yards at the goal, but goalkeeper van Dujnhoven saved it at the post.

Finally 3 minutes later van Dujnhoven didn't save.

After a Stajner pass from the left wing over the top of the Bochum defense to Krupnicovic led to a heel pass Stendel, the German forward beat van Dujnhoven inside the box to the ball and his left footed shot found the right corner for his 3rd season tally.

Bochum surrendered and Hannover's Brazilian forward scored from 14 yards in the 88th, after a counterattack through Stajner and de Guzman, and Hannover won in an enthusiastic game against VfL Bochum after an early lead.

Thomas Christiansen ended his period of slackness against his former club, and Stajner and Leandro took their role as perfect Jokers. The defense performed very well and Krupnikovic put in another stellar performance.

Next weekend Hannover has to play in Munich. What else Hannover can lose?

STATISTICS:

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Lala, de Guzman - Krupnikovic - Schröter (60. Stajner), Christiansen (86. Leandro), Stendel (90. Wallner)

VfL Bochum: van Duijnhoven - Colding, Maltritz, Meichelbeck, P. Bönig - Zdebel, Preuß - Misimovic (46. Bechmann), Wosz (77. Trojan) - Lokvenc (86. Gudjohnssen), P. Madsen

Goals: 1:0 Christiansen (16.), 2:0 Stendel (64.), 3:0 Leandro (88.)
Yellow: - / Zdebel
Spectators: 28.114
Referee: Lutz Wagner

Picture: Oliver Vosshage

96 head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18 man roster for the game against Vfl Bochum:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Schneider, Tarnat, Schröter, Lala, de Guzman, Stefulj, Krupnikovic, Stendel, Stajner, Christiansen, Wallner and Leandro.

German midfielder Christoph Dabrowski will not be able to play against Vfl Bochum on Saturdays game due to injury. Us defender Steven Cherundolo and Brazilian forward Leandro took part of practice without any problems.

Because Steven Cherundolo will be back in the starting lineup on Saturday on the right back position, 96 head coach Ewald Lienen has to decide that one of the successfull players of the last starting lineup against Kaiserslautern is not playing: Either Jiri Stajner, Daniel Stendel or Sylvio Schröter will not be in the starting lineup.

Hannover96 moved to the 7th in the table.

Wednesday Bundesliga games:
Mainz - Rostock 3:1
Leverkusen - Bielefeld 3:2
Hamburg - Freiburg 4:0
Stuttgart - Bremen 1:2
Nuernberg - Schalke 0:2

Hannover 96 downed 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3:1 for their fourth straight Bundesliga win despite the fact that Kaiserslautern scored first in the 26th on a goal from Amanatidis. German defender Michael Tarnat equalized in the in 33rd and Czech forward Jiri Stajner (picture) scored later in the 65th and 86th for a 3-1 final.

Hannover played without US defender Steven Cherundolo who was out due to a concussion suffered against Gladbachs Peer Kluge with Sylvio Schröter filling in at right back. Leandro was also missing through injury. German forward Daniel Stendel played on the right wing as a forward and Jiri Stajner on the left while Spaniard Thomas Christiansen took his the center forward position. Kaiserslautern played without suspended player Grammozis.

The Reds were threatening from the start with pressure coming from the right through Daniel Stendel and Thomas Christiansen against a defensive minded Kaiserslautern.

In the 6th German defender Michael Tarnat sent a 60 meter pass to Jiri Stajner who received it on the run, moving towards the goal and took the ball with his knee to just inside the box, letting go with a tight angled shot. The ball landed over the goal on the net.

Although Hannover was dominating the game, Kaiserslautern took the lead: After a counter attack through a combination between Carsten Jancker and Marco Engelhardt, Greek forward Ioannis Amanatidis received the pass (from Engelhardt) and scored on the left inside the box (turning) from 11 meters flatfooted in the left side of net.

Despite that goal Hannover never let up, attacking mostly on the right through Stendel and Schröter. After 33 minutes Hannover was finally rewarded. First Serbien playmaker Nebojsa Krupnicovic shot a volley from 26 meters but Kaiserslauterns goalkeeper Tim Wiese saved well resulting in a corner: The resulting short corner kick from right-side defender Silvio Schröter flanked into the goalmouth and Michael Tarnat jumped higher than defender Marco Engelhardt and headed into the left side to even the score at 1:1.

Kaiserslautern had two more chances through Zandi (saved by Hannovers goalkeeper Robert Enke) in the 42nd and Kaiserslautern's best player Amanatidis had a header from 6 meters foiled again by Enke and the first half ended 1:1.

Hannover's first chance came in the 47th when Silvio Schröter volley shot from 23 meters at goalkeepers Wieses goal who made a great save.

In the 55th Kaiserslautern had a dangerous counter attack: Amanatidis passed to his teammate Carsten Jancker who who shot from 11 meters (half left position) to the far post. But again a great Robert Enke was there to save artisticly with his foot.

Finally the reds went ahead in the 65th: Albanian defender Altin Lala took the throw-in from the right to Jiri Stajner who sent a through pass to Wenzel that beat Engelhardt inside the box and scored from 6 meters in the short corner to 2:1.

Again hard working forward Thomas Christiansen wanted to score his first Bundesliga goal this season but failed in the 72nd through a solo from 17 meters at goalkeeper Tim Wiese and three minutes later on a header from the left failed again at Wiese.

A great counter attacke from Hannover sealed the game in the 86th: A 1-2 combination between Stajner and Stendel beat the defense of Kaiserslautern when Stajner took the ball after it from the right and lobbed over the onrushing goalkeeper Tim Wiese inside the right box brining the final score to 3:1

Hannover 96 earned their fourth straight Bundesliga win in the 96 history resulted in a courageously offensive game with very confident team. Besides matchwinner Jiri Stajner, the right wing with Silvio Schröter and Daniel Stendel had a great day. Hannover moved to fourth in the table and plays on Saturday at home against Vfl Bochum.

STATISTICS

Hannover 96: Enke - Schröter, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Lala, de Guzman (90. Vinicius), Krupnikovic - Stendel, Christiansen (88. Wallner), Stajner,

1. FC Kaiserslautern: Wiese - Lembi, Hertzsch, Wenzel - Drescher (46. Tchato), Nurmela (70. Altintop), Riedl, Engelhardt (82. Teber) - Zandi - Jancker, Amanatidis

Goals: 0:1 Amanatidis (26.), 1:1 Tarnat (33.), 2:1 Stajner (65.), 3:1 Stajner (86.)

Yellow: - / Riedl, Zandi, Tchato, Lembi
Spectators: 24.536
Referee: Hermann Albrecht (Kaufbeuren)

Picture: Oliver Vosshage

96 head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18 man roster for the game against Kaiserslautern:

Enke, Juric, Schröter, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Schneider, Tarnat, Stefulj, Lala, de Guzman, Krupnikovic, Sousa, Stendel, Stajner, Christiansen, Wallner and Kaufman.

Steven Cherundolo is missing due to injury (concussion) as well as Leandro Fonseca (knee injury), Tranquillo Barnetta, Mo Idrissou and Christoph Dabrowski .

The US defender Steven Cherundolo just did running today and did't take part of practice after his collision with Peer Kluge at the Saturday game against Gladbach.

"He is not just feeling well" says 96 head coach Ewald Lienen. It is possible that he will not play on Tuesday against Kaiserslautern.

Not able to play on Tuesday due to injury are Mo' Idrissou and Christoph Dabrowski.

The Linksection has been updated. Click here...

Because Schalke won on Sunday game against Mainz, Hannover moved to the 7th in the table.

Sunday games:
Freiburg - Stuttgart 2:0
Schalke - Mainz 2:1

96soccer.com talked with US defender Steven Cherundolo:

Steve, how do you feel after you had to leave the field due to injury? How did this happen?

"I got still some headache. The doctor will tell me more back in Hannover. But I think, I will be able to play on Tuesday against Kaiserslautern. Per Kluge came from the back and I didn't see him, while he hit me during a head-to-head collision. I was unconscious a bit time."

How did you experience that game and your first Bundesliga goal?

"The game was hard and we expected that. We stood very good and compact. The first goal came after a standard situation (corner kick). My goal happened after a brilliant pass from Kruppi (Nebojsa Krupnicovic). I know him a long time and how he passes. I speculated and expected the pass. I got the pass well and headed over the goalkeeper Kampa. I am happy more for the team than for scoring my first Bundesliga goal. We don't have the top players like in some other Bundesliga clubs but we play very well together."

Visit Steve's website at: http://www.cherundolo.de/

You can order a Hannover 96 Jersey of Steven Cherundolo or other players here.

Interview by Bert Pickert

Hannover 96 downed Gladbach 2:0 for their third straight Bundesliga win, after German defender Per Mertesacker scored in the 17th and later, when US defender Steven Cherundolo scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 35th for a 2-0 final. Steven Cherundolo had to leave the field due to injury in the beginning of the second half. (More to his situation in the 96soccer.com interview).

Apart from the fact that German midfielder Christoph Dabrowski didn't play due to injury Hannover, played with their same team against they lined up against Wolfsburg.

Albania international midfielder Altin Lala assumed the starting role in place of Dabrowski. Gladbach played without suspended players Bernd Korzynietz and Oliver Neuville.

After a long initial spell of cautious play, the first scoring chance for either side came in the 15th, when Gladbach midfielder Peer Kluge beat Cherundolo on the left flank and saw his shot narowly miss, hitting the outside netting.

Two minutes later 96 went ahead with their first chance of the match.

Playmaker Nebojsa Krupnicovic received a short corner from the right, and sent in a looping cross to the far post. With the Gladbach defense expecting the ball to go out for a goal kick, they failed to respond to and left Brazilian Leandro umarked. But Leandro reacted well, and sent a floating header back across the face of goal, where the awaiting Mertesacker finished from near point blank range, by deflecting his shot off of Gladbach defenders Ulich and Strasser.

The home side then tried to react, but Gladbach was harmless in front of goal. A 20 yard shot from Enrico Gaede and a weak header from Thomas Broich, both failed.

In the 35th a genius Krupnikovic pass during a counter attacker fom the center to US defender Steven Cherundolo led to the second.

Cherundolo, making a surprise run into the area, was several Gladbach defenders in his wake. After after first bouncing just outside the box, Cherdundolo controlled nicely by chipping to himself, then lobbing Gladbach keeper with a cheeky header, shocking the home side and sending Hannover into the break with a 2 goal lead.

Gladbach began the second half with the two new players Plate and Carnell in order to post more danger. The substitution paid immediate dividends, the South African Carnell leading severeal dangerous attacks on the left.

96 head coach Ewald Lienen was waste to an early substitution on Cherundolo in the 56th, in a scary moment for the American.

Cherundolo was the victim of an accidental but violent head-to-head collision with Per Kluge, knocking the defender momentarily unconscious. Cherundolo was immediately taken off on a stretcher and regained his senses a short time later. Croatian midfielder Danijel Stefulj eventualy came on in his place.

Lady luck was on Hannover's side ten minutes later, when Leandro ran over clearly fouled Broich in the penalty area, but Referee Wolfgang Stark errantly awarded just a free kick outside the box for Gladbach instead of a penalty kick.

The 96 defense stood very compact and goalkeeper Enke kept his goal clear, most notably in the 73rd when a point blank Joris van Hout shot from 6 yards was parried by Enke.

Hannover 96 won deservedly against Gladbach thanks to a strong defensive effort and clever tactical game. Man of the Match was Per Mertesacker followed by the now common strong goalkeeping of Robert Enke.

STATISTICS

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo (56. Stefulj), Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Lala, de Guzman, Schröter, Krupnikovic (89. Schneider) - Christiansen (66. Stendel), Leandro

Borussia Moenchengladbach: Kampa - Fukal (46. Plate), Pletsch, Strasser, van Kerckhoven (46. Carnell) - Ulich, Gaede, Kluge - Broich - Sverkos, Heinz (69. van Hout)

Goals: 0:1 Mertesacker (17.), 0:2 Cherundolo (35.)

Yellow: Sverkos / Krupnikovic, Tarnat

Spectators: 43.506

Referee: Wolfgang Stark

Picture: Stefan Zwing

96 head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18 man roster for the game against Gladbach:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Schneider, Vinicius, Tarnat, Schröter, Stefulj, Lala, de Guzman, Krupnikovic, Sousa, Stendel, Christiansen, Stajner and Leandro.

As always there is an injury list: Mo Idrissou, Tranquillo Barnetta.

Hannover 96 beat Bundesliga leaders VfL Wolfsburg 3:0 with 2 goals from German Silvio Schröter and a second half injury time tally by Daniel Stendel, they climbed into 8th in the table. Despite being dominated over the first 35 minutes, Hannover got its act together over the last hour, and claimed the well deserved victory. With the loss, Wolfsburg now fall to 2nd in the standings, behind new Bundesliga leaders, VfB Stuttgart.

Hannover again played without the US forward Clint Mathis (not even on the bench), and missing through injury were Mo Idrissou, Tranquillo Barnetta.

Nebojsa Krupnikovic played in the starting lineup again as playmaker, after his classy performance in the last outing against Hansa Rostock and the two forwards were Leandro and Thomas Christiansen. Schröter played instead of Albanian midfielder Altin Lala. Unable to play due to injury at Wolfsburg: Marian Hristov.

In the 7th German defender Michal Tarnat launched a long pass from the left inside Wolfsburg's box, where Wolfsburg's Dutch defender Kevin Hofland headed the ball outside the box right in front of Schröter, who strucked home from 20 meters out (drop-kick), leaving VfL goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch no chance.

The goal seemed to anger the visitors, and the "Wolves" began to pour on the pressure with and nice combinations and started to show why they are on the top in the standings.

After a giveaway from Christoph Dabrowski, a 1-2 combination through Bulgarian Martin Petrov and former 96 player Thomas Brdaric, Petrov shot flatfooted near the left post in the 11th minute. Ten minutes later, Hannover had to thank keeper Robert Enke for keeping the sheet clean after saving well from a Brdaric offering which was set up by the lively Slovakian Miroslav Karhan.

In the 27th Canadian midfielder Julian de Guzman had to leave the field due to injury, replaced by captain Altin Lala, who himself is still not 100% fit.

In the 36th Argentine Diego Klimowicz nearly headed home from a setup through a Brdaric cross from the right flank. Enke again coming to the rescue.

Wolfsburg's 30 minute spell of sheer dominance couldn't last forever, though and Hannover nearly doubled the lead in the 42nd.

A counterattack led by US defender Steven Cherundolo resulted in a Schröter shot that missed by a whisker of the left post. 3 minutes later defender Facundo Hernan Quiroga saved a chance from Christiansen, though it nearly resulted in an own goal.

Hannover seemed to be transformed after the beginning of the second half, as 96 was awake and got three big chances within a few minutes of the restart through Cherundolo, Leandro and again Schröter.

Cherundolo's tight angled offering forced through a save from Jentzsch in the 47th, while a minute later the Brazilian Leandro shot from 11 meters over the bar. Schröter added a long range shot 60 seconds later which was again parried away by Jentzsch.

A free kick from Serbian playmaker Nebojsa Krupnikovic decided the game 15 minutes later.

Krupnikovic's dead ball offering into the box, was poorly cleared by Brdaric who saw his nightmare of a game continue when Schröter pounced on the opportunity and claimed the loose ball. The German dribbled into the box, and drilled his shot just inside the left post, shocking Wolfsburg and turning the AWD-Arena into a frenetic party.

In the 86th a Lala shot from 12 meters flew high, after some clever work by substitute Daniel Stendel, but late into injury time he would take matters into his own hand by stealing the ball from Quiroga in the midfield, and after a 40 yard run, blasting past Jentzsch and putting an exclamation point on what would end up as a 3-0 victory.

With the great Schröter, and excellent performance from goalkeeper Robert Enke, Hannover has reached their highest standing in the table thusfar in the 2004/05 campaign, Wolfsburg head coach Erik Geretz saying: "Hannover has won deservedly, even if they were the first half dominated by us. But we had too many giveaways and a great Hannover goalkeeper".

"We had luck in the first half with that great goal from Schröter playing instead of injured Tranquillo Barnetta," Hannover boss Ewald Lienen later replied. "35 minutes belonged to Wolfsburg, but we had a great Robert Enke."

"In the second half we were more self-confident and played secure after the 2 goal lead. This was hard work and a deserved win."

STATISTICS

Hannover 96: Enke Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat Dabrowski (65. Schneider), de Guzman (27. Lala), Schröter, Krupnikovic Christiansen (83. Stendel), Leandro

VfL Wolfsburg: Jentzsch Rytter (77. Schnoor), Quiroga, Hofland, Weiser Karhan, Thiam, D`Alessandro (77. Menseguez), Petrov Brdaric, Klimowicz (54. Topic)

Goals: 1:0 Schroeter (7.), 2:0 Schroeter (64.), 3:0 Stendel (90+1)
Yellow: - / Karhan, Hofland (banned)
Referee: Dr. Markus Merk
Spectators: 34.313

Pictures: Bert Pickert

96 head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18 man roster for the game against Wolfsburg:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Schneider, Tarnat, Schröter, Lala, Dabrowski, de Guzman, Krupnikovic, Sousa, Stendel, Stajner, Wallner, Christiansen and Leandro.

Mo Idrissou is missing (knee injury).

This could be the starting lineup from each team on Sunday game at the AWD Arena:

Hannover 96: Enke – Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat – Lala (Dabrowski), de Guzman, Krupnikovic – Leandro, Christiansen, Idrissou (Stajner)

VfL Wolfsburg: Jentzsch – Weiser, Quiroga, Hofland, Rytter – Schnoor (Karhan), Thiam, D`Alessandro – Brdaric, Klimowicz, Petrov

Referee: Dr. Markus Merk

The upcoming games of Hannover 96 have been scheduled:

10/17/04 Sun	Hannover 96 : VfL Wolfsburg	17:30 GMT
10/23/04 Sat	Borussia M'gladbach : Hannover 96	15:30 GMT
10/26/04 Tue	Hannover 96 : 1.FC Kaiserslautern	20:00 GMT
10/30/04 Sat	Hannover 96 : VfL Bochum	15:30 GMT
11/06/04 Sat	FC Bayern Muenchen : Hannover 96	15:30 GMT
11/09/04 Tue	Hannover 96 : Borussia Dortmund	19:00 GMT [DFB Pokal]
11/13/04 Sat	Hannover 96 : 1.FSV Mainz 05	15:30 GMT
11/21/04 Sun	1.FC Nuernberg : Hannover 96	17:30 GMT
11/28/04 Sun	Hannover 96 : VfB Stuttgart	17:30 GMT
12/04/04 Sat	Hamburger SV : Hannover 96	15:30 GMT
12/11/04 Sat	Hannover 96 : Hertha BSC Berlin	15:30 GMT

Check out the season: Click here...

The Swiss international Tranquillo Barnetta picked up an knee injury (cracked cruciate ligament) during the Swiss qualification for the FIFA 2006.

Tranquillo Barnetta got injured after a hard tackle from Omri Afek in the game against Israel. It will take around six month before Barnetta starts with practice. Today he got a succesfull surgery in Bad Griesbach.

Good luck to Tranquillo Barnetta!

Picture: Stefan Zwing

Hannover 96 won against Netherlands first league club FC Groningen in a friendly match 2:0.

Hannover 96: Juric - Schröter, Zuraw, Vinicius, Schneider - Dabrowski (57. Sousa), Krupnikovic (72. But), Stefulj, - Stajner (72. Kaufman), Christiansen (64. Wallner), Leandro (64. Stendel)

Goals: 1:0 Christiansen (42., Penalty), 2:0 Wallner (88.)

The game Hannover 96 against Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) has been scheduled:

11/09/2004 Tuesday 19:00 PM

Hannover 96 won against 7th league club TSV Pattensen in a friendly match 9:1. Hannover played without the International players Per Mertesacker (Germany), Altin Lala (Albania), Clint Mathis (USA), Julian de Guzman (Canada) and "Quillo" Barnetta (Swiss).

Unable to play due to injury were Ricardo Sousa, Mo Idrissou and Christoph Dabrowski. Hannover plays this Friday another friendly against Netherlands first league club FC Groningen (15th in the standings). The game begins 18:30 PM in Goslar.

Hannover 96: Juric – Stefulj (67. Krupnikovic), Vinicius (67. Agac), Schneider (78. Balke), Schinner (73. Tarnat) – Schröter, Stajner (67. Wolf), But – Stendel (67. Montabell), Wallner, Kaufman.

Goals: Stefulj (2), Stajner (2), Wallner (2), But, Montabell, Wolf – Ebers.

Spectators: 2500

Hannover stays on the 10th in the standings. These are the Sundays games results:

Bielefeld - Stuttgart 0:2
Schalke - VfL Bochum 3:2

Hannover 96 won well deserved against Hansa Rostock 3:1 as they ran out to a 3 goal lead they wouldn't relinquish with goals from Leandro, Tranquillo Barnetta and Daniel Stendel. With the victory, Hannover climbed out from the relegation zone to the 10th in the table.

Hannover played without the US forward Clint Mathis who was released early for the US World Cup Qualifiying matches against El Salvador and Panama. Unable to play due to injury were Mo Idrissou, Altin Lala, Ricardo Sousa, Vinicius and Vladimir But. Nebojsa Krupnikovic entered the starting lineup as playmaker and the three forwards Tranquillo Barnetta, Leandro and Thomas Christiansen.

Despite Hansa themselves struggling in the table, they came out firing, and registered the first real chances of the match.

The first of which coming via midfielder Rene Rydlewicz's pass at the goal, which was saved by Hannover goalkeeper Robert Enke. A few minutes later midfielder Thomas Meggle had a half-chance to open the ledger, but failed because the cross from midfielder Marcus Lantz came surprisingly and Enke saved easily.

It went all downhill from there for the home side.

In the 14th Hannover's Serbian playmaker Krupnikovic sent in a beautiful free kick from outside the box into the penalty area, where the Brazilian Leandro headed home from just 6 yards out. Unfortunately for Rostock, and indaverenent handball was not called by the referee and the goal stood, despite the vehenement protests.

8 minutes later Hannover doubled the lead. Hard working Spanish forward Thomas Christiansen passed brilliantly to Michael Tarnat on the left wing. The Frenchman's resulting cross found Barnetta who headed home powerfully from the identical spot as the opener.

In the 42nd Hannover could had extended the head with a header from Leandro, but Rostock goalkeeper Mathias Schober pulled off an expert save.

In the second half Rostock put more pressure into the game, but Hannover still maintained control, and had the majority of the better chances.

In the 56th Hannovers Krupnikovic shot a free kick into the box while Christoph Dabrowski shot artisticly at the bar.

After one hour Rostock pressure seemed to fade away, their last good chance saw Swedish forward Rade Prica with a strong shot from 20 yards, but Enke was equal to the task.

The next minutes belonged to the Reds: with shot at the goal in the 63rd from Krupnikovic, and in the 65th from Leandro, setup by Krupnicovic.

In a frightening scene Rostocks di Salvo in a battle with Hannover defender Darek Zuraw, collided with Robert Enke who tried to kick the ball outside the box. But the ball struck Antonio di Salvo will full force, and the Italian was taken off by stretcher and directly to the hospital.

In the 84th Hannover scored after on a counter attack: Canadian Julian de Guzman sent Stendel into free space on the right, and the German launched a ferocious shot from 12 yards into the right corner.

In the 88th Rostock scored their consolation goal through a shot from defender Razundara Tjikuzu after a clever setup by Arvidsson.

Hannover deservedly won on the back of some great goalkeeping from Robert Enke, a strong defensive play: notably Germany international Per Mertesacker and Steve Cherundolo, as well as man of the match Nebojsa Krupnikovic.

Hannover now has two week break until the next match against Vfl Wolfsburg, due to the international match calendar.

STATISTICS

FC Hansa Rostock: Schober - Möhrle, Persson, Hill, Maul (46. T. Rasmussen) - Tjikuzu, Rydlewicz, Lantz, Meggle (31. Prica) - Allbäck, di Salvo (68. Arvidsson)

Hannover 96: : Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Dabrowski, de Guzman - Krupnikovic (88. Stefulj)- Leandro (79. Stendel), Christiansen (79. Stajner), Barnetta

Goals: 0:1 Leandro (14.), 0:2 Barnetta (22.), 0:3 Stendel (84.), 1:3 Tjikuzu (88.)
Yellow: Schober, Prica, Lantz / Leandro, Tarnat, Enke
Referee: Jürgen Jansen (Bremen)
Spectators: 16.000

Picture: Stefan Zwing