As of: 04/29/2022 8:23 PM
The Reds could have made it. Second division football club Hannover 96 came close to staying in the league on Friday night with a 2-0 (1-0) victory over Karlsruhe.
Preparing for the match may not have been easy for 96 coach Christoph Dabrowski. After all, managing director Martin Kind made it clear in an interview with Sport 1 on Wednesday that Stefan Little of Greuther Fürth, who has been relegated to the Bundesliga, is the favorite for next season. Which means nothing else that Dabrowski’s tenure as Hannover coach will end after this season.
However, he has already accomplished 99 percent of his mission in leading the Reds to remain in the league. Thanks to a home win in Round 32, they are now nine points ahead of the relegation standings occupied by Dynamo Dresden. And if the Saxons don’t get past a tie in the second leg against Jan Regensburg on Saturday, the Hanoverians should be celebrating on the couch this weekend.
Weydandt revives match 96 with his goal
However, the start was not at all promising. Dabrowski had promised to “fight” after the pathetic 3-0 defeat to Karlsruhe in Paderborn, but there was no sign of implementing this plan in the early stages. Instead, the Reds continued where they had left off in East Westphalia: with an uninspired ball attachment.
additional information
In the 24th minute, there was an almost valid admission: KSC professional player Tim Breithaupt was directed wide of the goal. In contrast, Hendrik Weddant did a much better job. The Lower Saxony striker shook his head after a cross from Linton Maina to make the score 1-0 (25). First chance, first goal – in terms of efficiency, what the hosts provided was great anyway.
Hannover missed a very good chance to make it 2-0
They could have maintained such a strong level soon after if Maximilian Pierre had provided a better pass after a counterattack to Weydandt, who would most likely have pushed towards the empty goal. However, Pierre picked the low shot and moved away from the post (32′). Both teams still had good chances after that – Fabian Schleusner for Karlsruhe (33), Maina for the “Reds” (42) – but it was 1-0 at the break.
Pierre removes doubts about the victory at home
After the restart, Karlsruhe pressed for an equaliser, but they rarely became serious. Schleusner had another good chance, but his shot from close range topped (59). 96 were mainly dependent on securing the defense and they did it well. The match spread to injury time. In this Pierre made the score 2-0 after a counterattack (90 + 4).
April 32 29, 2022, 6:30 pm
additional information
