42,300 spectators also probably saw the last home game with 96 managing director Marcus Mann. The sports director is drawn to the top Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg. Hannover have only won two of the last six games in their own stadium.
Because Bochum’s fan block set off fireworks, the game had to be interrupted for around seven minutes in the first half (17th). At this point, both teams had already missed several great chances: Bochum’s Francis Onyeka (6th) had the first of them. Then it was Hannover’s Japanese Hayate Matsuda (6th) and Daisuke Yokota (15th).
The 96ers dominated the entire game, but lacked sharpness in attack. The poor form of striker Benjamin Källman on the day was indicative of this.
The Finnish international striker has already scored nine times in this second division season. This time he failed with a poorly shot penalty from VfL goalkeeper Timo Horn (44th). The video referee had previously checked for a long time whether there was a foul or not in a duel between Bochum’s Farid Alfa-Ruprecht and Hanover’s Maurice Neubauer.
In the 60th minute, Horn showed his next great feat: He parried a shot from the completely free-standing Matsuda from close range. Källman headed the ensuing corner onto the crossbar (62′).
There was hardly any relief from Bochum in the second half – until the 78th minute, when substitute Mats Pannewig hit the post in one of the few constructive attacks. On the other side, Waniss Taibi also failed shortly before the end due to the outstanding horn (88th).
