In the 2nd Bundesliga, Hannover 96 showed newly promoted Wehen Wiesbaden their limits in a playful way and made a jump in the table with the victory.
On Saturday, coach Stefan Leitl’s Lower Saxony team won 2-0 (1-0). The Hanoverian goals were scored by Havard Nielsen (11th) and Derrick Köhn (74th). During the week, SV Wehen Wiesbaden, who eventually ran out of steam in Hanover, were challenged in the first round of the DFB Cup against RB Leipzig (2:3).
With the victory, Hannover, who have won three of the last four league games, move up to second place (15 points) and are now only one point behind league leaders Hamburger SV. Wehen Wiesbaden remains with eight points from eight games and is in 15th place.
Hannover dominates, Prtajin loses contractions early
Hannover 96 and Wehen Wiesbaden worked off each other in the early stages. However, the game then clearly tipped in favor of Lower Saxony, who were more alert in winning the ball and therefore had the ball often enough to shape the game.
The Hanoverians had significantly more possession of the ball in the first half and were the more dangerous team offensively. The score was 10:5 with shots on goal at the half-time whistle. So the lead that center forward Nielsen had taken with his early header after an assist from Phil Neumann was okay at half-time.
For Wiesbaden, the first half was an unfortunate one, and not just because of the deficit. Attacker Ivan Prtajin missed a great chance to equalize because Hanover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler made a strong save (13th). And then he injured himself in the 16th minute without any influence from the opponent and had to leave the pitch. In the cup against Leipzig, the Croatian was one of the most noticeable players from Wehen.
Wiesbaden puts up a fight, 96 stays cool
After the restart, Wehen Wiesbaden tried everything to get back into the game. The guests showed the right attitude. First of all, they won more duels and had more attempts on goal at the beginning of the final phase than Hannover (5:4 after the break). Marcus Mathisen (47th) and Franko Kovacevic (63rd) had the best opportunities.
But that was of no use because Wiesbaden’s defense had little to counter the Hanoverians, who were then superior in terms of play. Jannik Dehm’s powerful shot could have been right, but it hit the crossbar (52′).
Köhn’s goal to make it 2-0 after an assist from Louis Schaub brought calm. In the final phase there wasn’t much left from the guests.
Hanover in Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden welcomes HSV
Hannover 96 face 1. FC Kaiserslautern on matchday 9 (Friday, October 6th, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.). Meanwhile, SV Wehen Wiesbaden hosts Hamburger SV (Saturday, 1 p.m.).