Football United

Hanover put an end to the fine unbeaten run of the Wolves in front of 37,000 in the AWD Arena in Hanover on Sunday evening, as they beat VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 and sent the Wolves home howling. A goal in each half by Schröter, and a further strike in the last minute by Stendel gave Erik Gerets and Co. Their first defeat in six Bundesliga matches. The scoreline certainly flattered Hanover, who never saw the light of day during the first half despite taking a 7th minute lead.

Thiam for Schnoor
The home coach Ewald Lienen made only one change to his side which won 3-1 away to Rostock last time out. Schröter replaced the injured Baretta in the starting line-up. It was to be a change that would pay off as Schröter scored two of Hanover’s goals in the round 8 tie. On the Wolfsburg side, Pablo Thiam replaced skipper Stefan Schnoor in the Wolves’ starting 11.

Schröter out of the blue
Both sides made a cautious start to the match for the opening few minutes. On 7 minutes however, a ball rebounded off a Wolves defender to Schröter standing 20 yards out. He took the ball on the volley and crashed a fabulous shot into the top corner on Simon Jentzsch’ net with the Wolfsburg keeper groping at air.

Wolves unruffled
The early setback failed to unsettle the visiting side and they began to dominate proceedings straight after the Hanover goal. On 11 minutes, good combination play between Brdaric and Petrov, saw the latter shave a post with a shot. The Wolves continued to show character and the home keeper Enke was forced into a breath taking save as Brdaric almost equalised

One way traffic
The large crowd saw a one-sided first half with the visiting side on top for most of it. Enke was called on time and time again as the Wolves carved out chance after chance, neither of which was taken. The home side rarely threatened the Wolves goal, and when they tried to, they were foiled by the well organised Wolfsburg defence. Hanover somehow managed to go into the half time break with a slender one goal lead.

Hanover improve
After the break the home side came into the game more. Simon Jentzsch was called upon to show the good form he has shown of late. Erik Gerets brought on Topic for Klimowicz, in an effort to bring some fresh legs to the game. On 64 minutes Hanover doubled their lead as Brdaric attempted clearance was pounced upon by Schröter who waltzed through the Wolves defence before firing in a shot which Jentzsch was able to push on to the inside of a post, but couldn’t stop Schröter scoring his second of the match.

All over bar the shouting
To their credit the Wolves never stopped trying. Dutch defender Kevin Hofland picked up a fifth yellow card which means he will be suspended for the home game against VfL Bochum. Seconds before the end of the game, Quiroga lost possession on the half way line as the Wolves pressed forward. Stendel ran unchallenged through the Wolfsburg half to score his side’s third and send the Wolves home with their tails tucked between their legs. The Wolves are now second in the Bundesliga table, two points behind VfB Stuttgart who beat Dortmund 2-0 at home on Saturday.

HANOVER: Enke; Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat; de Guzman (Lala, 27'), Dabrowski (Schneider, 66'), Krupnikovic; Schröter, Christiansen (Stendel, 83'), Leandro.

WOLFSBURG: Jentzsch; Rytter (Schnoor, 77'), Quiroga, Hofland, Weiser; Karhan, Thiam; Petrov, D'Alessandro (Menseguez, 77'); Brdaric, Klimowicz (Topic, 54')

GOALS: 1-0, Schröter (7'); 2-0, Schröter (64'); 3-0, Stendel (91')

Source: vfl-wolfsburg.de