Eintracht Braunschweig won the Lower Saxony derby 1-0 against Hannover 96 with a late goal from Jannis Nikolaou. The defensive specialist’s goal in injury time improved the BTSV to relegation place 16 in the second Bundesliga.
BTSV’s success was deserved. Coach Michael Schiele’s team was the better team on Sunday afternoon and had already missed good chances to take the lead before Nikolaou’s goal (90+1). Hannover disappointed in a game that was briefly interrupted twice due to the use of pyrotechnics and has been waiting for a triple point win since November 8th last year.
Weydandt: “The contrast to the first half of the season is too strong”
“It’s currently difficult for everyone to find words that are appropriate and help. We’ll sit down as a team today and discuss the whole thing. We have to ask ourselves what has happened in the last seven weeks. The contrast to the first half of the season is just too hard,” said 96 striker Hendrik Weydandt. Keeper Ron-Robert Zieler also relentlessly criticized himself: “We didn’t present ourselves well today.”
Of course, the mood of the BTSV pros was completely different. “Today we are all derby heroes. We played a very good game as a team and deserved to win. I’m just over the moon now,” said Nikolaou.
Early game stoppage after Pyro use
Both teams entered the lawn of the stadium on Hamburger Strasse in bright sunshine to the sounds of the carnival hit “Braunschweig ist schöner als Hannover” by the Braunschweiger Burgsänger. While the BTSV fans sang along at the top of their lungs, the 96 attachment tried to make themselves heard with chants. However, it didn’t stop there. After eight minutes, pyrotechnics were ignited in the guest block.
Among other things, a rocket flew onto the field. Yellow smoke – appropriately caused by some fans of the “Reds” – moved through the arena. Referee Patrick Ittrich (Hamburg) interrupted the game for a short time.
Ujah fails with a side kick against the post
Shortly before the involuntary break, there was the first noteworthy end of the derby: Braunschweig’s Robin Krauße tested Zieler with a tight but unplaced long-range shot (8th). Even more demanding tasks should await the 2014 World Champion this afternoon. For example in the 25th minute, when Fabio Kaufmann ran towards him at high speed after a long ball and Zieler had to boldly throw himself in his way to prevent Hannover from falling behind.
Anthony Ujah was even closer to making it 1-0 for Eintracht. His wonderful side kick hit the outside post (36th). Instead of a potential “Goal of the Month” there was the next game interruption shortly afterwards (40th). This time there was a lot of fire in the BTSV fan block. Yellow smoke drifted through the stadium again. Ujah picked up a still-lit firecracker himself and threw it off the field. However, Ittrich was able to start the whistle again quickly.
96 harmless in attack
96 didn’t really find their way into the game until half-time. The “Reds” lacked power and finesse in the forward movement. A nice flick from Maximilian Beier, who just missed the target (29′), was Hanover’s best opportunity in the first half.
Nikolaou rewards Braunschweig’s final offensive
Even after the change of sides, Eintracht was the more dangerous team. Zieler was just able to deflect a shot from Anton Donkor onto the post (56′). And the goalkeeper was also there when Ujah’s header landed (60′). On the other side, Beier also tried to succeed with his forehead. His attempt, however, did not pose any major problems for keeper Jasmin Fejzic (61′).
After that, the action largely shifted to midfield. Only in the final phase did the Schiele team push for the 1-0 with more vehemence. Ujah (85′) and Manuel Wintzheimer (88′) missed the lead with their shots, Nikolaou was then spot on after a corner kick that got to him in a roundabout way and scored the celebrated winning goal.
“This is my first derby win. It’s indescribable. We believed in it and played to our strengths today. Now we have nine games left. I think if we do our homework, then anything is possible,” said Eintracht veteran Fejzic.
Match statistics Eintracht Braunschweig – Hannover 96
Matchday 25, 03/19/2023 1:30 p.m
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 1 |
| Hannover 96 | 0 |
Gates:
Eintracht Braunschweig: Fejzic – de Medina (83. JH Marx), Decarli, Kurucay, Donkor – Krauße (90.+3 Benkovic), Nikolaou – F. Kaufmann (73. Multhaup), Pherai (90.+3 Henning), Lauberbach (73. Wintzheimer) – Ujah
Hannover 96: Zieler – Muroya, Neumann, Krajnc (75. Börner), Köhn – Besuschkow, S. Ernst (59. F. Kunze) – Nielsen (84. Teuchert), Schaub (46. Kerk), Beier – Weydandt
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sports club | 03/19/2023 | 12:13 a.m
