Hannover 96 took an important step in the fight for promotion in the 2nd Bundesliga under Christian Titz – and thus caused enormous damage to the coach’s former employer in the 2-1 (1-0) win at 1. FC Magdeburg. Daisuke Yokota (38th minute) and Enzo Leopold (56th) secured the second win in a row on Friday, while Baris Atik (53rd) equalized in the meantime.
Titz returned to his old place of work for the first time as Hanover coach, where he celebrated great successes from February 2021 to June 2025. “I really met a lot of great people and had a really pleasant welcome” said Titz after the final whistle in the Sportschau interview. “I wish Magdeburg that they get as many points as possible.”
The now 54-year-old was promoted to the second division with Magdeburg and almost made it to the Bundesliga last season. For this he moved on to Hanover in the summer.
After the pyro break in Magdeburg there are opportunities from Hanover
With success in his old hometown, Titz wanted to take another step in this direction and reduce the gap to the top 3 to one point, at least for the time being. But the 96 coach, his players and his former team initially needed patience, because just a few minutes after kick-off the game was at a standstill. Pyro fog caused a total interruption of almost seven minutes.
The away block from Hannover 96 shortly after kick-off.
“We were doing very well in the first two minutes”said Magdeburg’s coach Petrik Sander to the Sportschau. “The break confused us a bit. And then we ran after the music.”
Both teams needed a little time to get into the game after the restart, Hannover was actually the team that got going first. After a mistake by Alexander Nollenberger, Yokota was free in front of the opponent’s goal, but narrowly missed it (21′). Shortly afterwards, Elias Saad waited too long to shoot, Kolja Oudenne then tried and was blocked (23′). A little later, Maik Nawrocki couldn’t place a header precisely enough (25′).
Hanover’s Yokota starts his own 1-0 series
Mateusz Zuckowski did better in the 31st minute after a half-court cross. The Magdeburg shooter was a few centimeters short of scoring in the fifth game in a row. For this, Yokota becomes a “serial offender”. As in the win against Fortuna Düsseldorf (2:1), the Japanese made it 1-0 for Hannover. After a counterattack, Benjamin Källmann unselfishly set up his third goal of the season (38th).
And the fourth almost came before the break, in the second minute of added time Yokota hit the crossbar with his third big chance. This usury almost took revenge, but Zuckowski was unable to complete a fantastic Magdeburg attack; Nahuel Noll was there to finish it from a tight angle (45th + 5th). Nevertheless, it was clear in the scene why Hannover had already lost 15 points after taking a lead this season.
Leopold switches quickly and counters Magdeburg’s Atik
In order not to lose the next points, Titz obviously sent his team back onto the field with the task of making it 2-0 in a timely manner – but Källmann also missed that when he shot just past the far corner shortly after the restart (48th). And so what had to happen happened. Magdeburg equalized because Noel Aseko lost the ball to Dariusz Stalmach just outside his own penalty area and Atik used his colleague’s assist with a shot to make it 1-1 (53′).
Baris Atik flicks the ball into the right corner.
But unlike the many lost points, Hannover managed to counterattack this time. Saad went one-on-one, put the ball past his opponent, fell to the ground and called for a penalty – but his captain Leopold instead converted the left winger’s unwanted assist to give the guests the lead again (56th). It was almost clearer a few minutes later, but Saad missed to make it 3-1 (64′).
The Latte and Noll save Hannover
Instead, Hannover almost laid another egg in the nest, this time Nawrocki made a major mistake near his own goal and laid the ball on Marcus Mathisen, whose shot from 19 meters hit the crossbar (76th). Shortly afterwards, Noll had to save the 96th lead after a low shot from Rayan Ghrieb (79th).
However, it was the last time that they were really in danger – and so Hannover was able to improve after their success the previous week. The Titz team has thus established a connection to the top of the second division, but needs more victories, the next one should come on Sunday next week against Holstein Kiel (1.30 p.m.).
The Hanoverians spend the night in fifth place – and are celebrated by their fans who traveled with them.
Magdeburg, on the other hand, could even fall to 17th place during the 20th matchday if Düsseldorf (against SC Paderborn) and Dynamo Dresden (against Arminia Bielefeld) score points on Sunday. For coach Petrik Sander’s team, important points in the relegation battle will be at stake again next Friday in the basement duel against bottom team Greuther Fürth (6.30 p.m.).
