Bundesliga Review: Hannover, Stuttgart secure vital wins

Hamburg took an early lead against Hannover at the Imtech Arena but ended up on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat.

A fantastic run down the right win from Nicolai Muller opened up the Hannover defence and Michael Gregoritsch added a simple finish to his cross with just six minutes played.

Hamburg remained on top and were denied a second as Ron-Robert Zieler saved from Dennis Diekmeier, before Marcelo Diaz struck the post with a free-kick in the 27th minute.

Hannover were handed a lifeline in the 59th minute when Emir Spahic brought down Uffe Bech inside the box – Hiroshi Kiyotake converting from the spot to restore parity.

The turnaround was completed eight minutes later as Salif Sane headed Kiyotake’s cross into the back of the net, lifting Michael Frontzeck’s men from the bottom three and up to 14th position.

Stuttgart also picked up a crucial victory over Darmstadt at the Mercedes Benz Arena to lift them out of the bottom three.

Darmstadt thought they had been awarded a penalty in the 10th minute when Przemyslaw Tyton brought down Sandro Wagner, but after initially awarding the spot-kick, referee Robert Hartmann spotted a flag raised for offside against the striker.

Martin Harnik took a knock in the first half and was replaced by Alexandru Maxim moments after Marcel Heller forced Tyton into a save in the 31st minute.

Timo Werner rattled the crossbar in the 68th minute but Stuttgart were handed the lead one minute later when Gyorgy Garics headed Christian Gentner’s cross into the back of his own net.

Darmstadt continued to be the better team but their push for an equaliser left them exposed and Werner wrapped up the win for the hosts after rounding Christian Mathenia, moving them up to 15th place and Werder Bremen into the relegation play-off position.