There was also a certain inertia. Thioune’s protégés also did far too little from 65 percent possession at the break because they moved too slowly, didn’t use the outside enough and made it pretty easy for the 96ers to defuse attack after attack.
Very tough second half
The second half didn’t get much more challenging either. Apart from a free kick from Sebastian Kerk, which flew just over Florian Kastenmeier’s goal in the 69th minute, there was hardly anything offensive from 96 – which you couldn’t blame them with nine field players. The defensive, on the other hand, continued to be excellent and Fortuna simply couldn’t find any solutions to pull the action on their side.
Although Hennings tried to fall back into midfield to give a kind of playmaker. But that meant he was missing up front and there was next to nothing from his team-mates when it came to scoring. After all: Even in the eighth game under Thioune, Düsseldorf remain undefeated and should no longer have anything to do with relegation. Hannover should also continue second-rate in the coming season.
Hanover in Paderborn, Dusseldorf against Dresden
On the coming match day Hannover will play in Paderborn (Sunday, 1.30 p.m.), Düsseldorf against Dynamo Dresden (Friday, 6.30 p.m.).