There were no changes made to the eleven that began in the 2-1 win in Sinsheim last weekend as Labbadia’s men took on fourth placed Hannover 96. The game got off to a lively start, with Tamas Hajnal going close after just eight minutes. Hannover’s best chance of the first half fell to Sergio Pinto, after a quarter hour. The midfielder let fly, following a lay-off from Didier Ya Konan, but his effort whizzed just over the VfB crossbar. The remainder of the half proved uneventful and the sides went in at the break with the scores still at 0-0.

Hajnal and Okazaki on target

Hannover 96 made the first move forward in the second 45 minutes through Konstantin Rausch, who drove a powerful left-footed shot over Sven Ulreich’s bar. But then VfB took charge! Martin Harnik burst forward in the 58th minute an d passed to Tamas Hajnal, who placed a low shot from 20 meters out past the H96 keeper to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Just three minutes later, the VfB fateful were celebrating again. Cacau picked out Shinji Okazaki,  who was completely alone on the left, and the Japanese international slotted home from 18 meters out to make it 2-0.