VfB Stuttgart
| 1-0 | Harnik | (13. Min) |
| 2-2 | Ibisevic | (33. Min) |
| 3-2 | Traoré | (52. Min) |
| 4-2 | Rausch | (84. Min) |
Hannover 96
| 1-1 | Sobiech | (28. Min) |
| 1-2 | Sane | (31. Min) |
Mame Diouf
Stats 
A passionate win
On Saturday, VfB were successful in their final home game of 2013, beating Hannover 96 4-2 (2-2) in front of a crowd of 47,000. After a turbulent first period, with four goals, Ibrahima Traoé and Konstantin Rausch made the difference in the second half to ensure the points remained in Stuttgart.
Thomas Schneider made a total of four changes to the eleven that started the 0-3 defeat to Schalke last weekend. Alexandru Maxim, William Kvist and Georg Niedermeier took their places on the bench, whilst captain Christian Gentner had to drop out of the squad with a knee problem. New in the side were Gotoku Sakai, Martin Harnik, with Moritz Leitner and Rani Khedira entrusted with the duties in the centre of the park, whilst Timo Werner joined Vedad Ibisevic in attack.
Three goals in four minutes
Right from the outset, VfB forced back their opponents deep into their own half and the VfB pressure was to pay-off early on. In the 13th minute, Moritz Leitner took possession in his own half, spreading a pass then wide to the right, where Timo Werner broke to the by-line before laying back into the path of Martin Harnik, who slotted home to put VfB in front. Just three minutes later, Vedad Ibisevic thought he had increased the VfB lead, but the effort was ruled out for off-side.
Statement
Thomas Schneider: "We gave everything over the 90 minutes."
Post match comments
A double whammy by the visitors quickly brought VfB back to the ground with a hefty bump, but the shock of going behind so soon after they had taken the lead didn’t last long. With just over a half-hour played, Vedad Ibiseivic stooped in to head home and make it 2-2 going into the break.
Just seven minutes into the second period, the hosts were back in front again. Moritz Leitner played a well-weighted diagonal pass into the path of Ibrahima Traoré, who notched up his second goal of the season to put VfB back in the driving seat.
There were further chances for Martin Harnik and Vedad Ibisevic, but the Austrian was off target with his effort and the Bosnian’s header was parried away by Ron-Robert Zieler (64’). With six minutes to go, Konstantin Rausch played a one-two with Timo Werner and then completed the move to make it 4-2 and secure a deserved second home win of the season for VfB Stuttgart.
