Four years after being relegated from the Bundesliga, Hannover 96 is slowly working its way back into the promotion places in the 2nd league. The Lower Saxony team defeated newly promoted SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2-0 (1-0) and improved to second place in the table after ten points from the last four games.
Havard Nielsen (11th) gave the 96ers the early lead in front of 31,100 spectators. The Norwegian headed a cross from Phil Neumann to score his third goal of the season. The hosts then missed the preliminary decision before the break because they missed several good chances. It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Derrick Köhn made everything clear with a 2-0 lead.
Wiesbaden, close to a surprise in the DFB Cup 2:3 against defending champions RB Leipzig on Wednesday, has been waiting for a win for six competitive games and is stuck in the bottom of the table. It remained exciting for a long time in the second half because Jannik Dehm only hit the crossbar for Hannover (52nd) and the video assistant did not decide on a penalty for 96 when the ball hit Robin Heußer on the hand (58th).
Holstein Kiel wins in Karlsruhe
Meanwhile, Holstein Kiel has overcome its mini-crisis and has set its sights on the promotion places again. The storks won 2-0 (2-0) at Karlsruher SC and moved up to third place for the time being. After a strong start to the season, the Kiel team recently suffered two defeats.
Benedikt Pichler with his third goal of the season (24th) and Tom Rothe with a header after a cross from former national player Lewis Holtby (27th) laid the foundation for the third away win of the season with a double strike. Steven Skrzybski also failed with a hand penalty to KSC goalkeeper Patrick Drewes (34th), Marcel Franke had the ball hit his hand after a shot from Skrzybski.
After only one point from the last four games, the KSC has slipped close to the relegation places with ten goals conceded. Kiel managed the lead cleverly, Karlsruhe hardly had any significant chances to score.
Braunschweig is slipping
Eintracht Braunschweig missed a break in the bottom of the table. Coach Jens Härtel’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) at Hansa Rostock without the injured striker Anthony Ujah despite several great chances. With just one win from eight games, Lower Saxony remains in 17th place.
After three games without a win, Rostock achieved success again and improved to eighth place. Defender Jasper van der Werff (87th) scored the victory from a corner in front of 25,600 spectators.
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The former Rostock Härtel relied on Kaan Caliskaner in attack as a replacement for Ujah, who scored three of Braunschweig’s five goals this season. Without the Nigerian, who had a shoulder injury, the guests’ biggest drawback was converting chances. Again and again Eintracht played promisingly into Rostock’s penalty area, but there was a lack of accuracy there.
