Hannover 1 Hertha Berlin 3: Kalou hat-trick sends capital club fourth

Salomon Kalou scored his first Bundesliga hat-trick as Hertha Berlin won 3-1 away to Hannover on Friday.

The former Chelsea forward scored with all three of his shots on target as Pal Dardai’s side won their third away game in a row in the Bundesliga to move into the top four.

Kalou – playing in a blue and white head bandage after suffering concussion last week – put the visitors ahead on 33 minutes with a composed finish through the legs of goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.

The 30-year-old doubled his and Hertha’s tally for the match early in the second half, firing low into the bottom corner after Vladimir Darida released him on the counter-attack.

Marvin Plattenhardt brought down Uffe Bech in the box just 10 minutes later, allowing Hiroshi Kiyotake to convert from the penalty spot to set up a nervy finish, but Kalou completed his hat-trick with his own spot-kick three minutes from time after a foul from Marcelo.

The result moves Hertha into fourth in the Bundesliga table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action, while Hannover remain 14th.