Hannover 96
VfB Stuttgart
Stats 
Stalemate in Hanover
Bruno Labbadia was forced to alter his starting eleven due to suspensions, with Shinji Okazaki returning from illness to replace Martin Harnik and Serdar Tasci slotting back in to replace Georg Niedermeier. With Cristian Molinaro coming back into the left full-back position, Antonio Rüdiger moved to the centre of defence.
A crowd of 46,000 – including around 1,000 fans from Stuttgart – filled into the sunny Hanover arena and following an impressive display from the fans, the game got off to a pacy start. It was an even tie in the opening phases, with VfB looking to press the hosts high up the park.
Impressive defensive work
The home side had the first sight of goal in the game, with Serdar Tasci clearing from Mame Diouf (14’). At the other end, Shinji Okazaki had a double chance, but both of the Japanese international’s efforts were blocked (19’). Six minutes later, Vedad Ibisevic narrowly failed to make contact with an Arthur Boka delivery.
VfB striker Vedad Ibisevic: "It’s a pit we didn’t manage to get a goal, we certainly had the better chances to do so." Post match comments
Just shy of the half-hour mark, Konstantin Rausch was a step too late to reach a cross into the VfB penalty area, whilst a minute later, Shinji Okazaki could only make a glancing contact with a Christian Gentner cross and land his header on top of the net (29’).
Both sides were far more effective in their defensive activities than they were going forward and, as a result, the game went into the break still locked at 0-0.
No clear chances
VfB had the first opportunity of the second half, with Ibrahima Traoré feeding Okazaki, who turned and shot from the edge of the box but was unable to find the mark (52’).
With an hour played, Sergio Pinto tried his luck from ten meters out but could only find the side netting. Clear chances in the game remained few and far between. In the 66th minute, William Kvist was introduced to replace Shinji Okazaki.
The VfB fans were getting ready to celebrate when Alexandru Maxim, who was playing without a protective mask again, hit a free-kick goal-wards but landed his effort on the roof of the net from 25 meters out. With the closing phase approaching, Didier Ya Konan fired over the VfB goal and Federico Macheda replaced Traoré.
In the final minute, Maxim broke through on the right and fired across the face of the goal but Ron-Robert Zieler was able to turn the ball away for corner, which brought nothing and, in the end, both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils.
