13.12.2009

Goals galore as Borussia beat Hannover

Borussia beat Hannover 5-3 in a very entertaining Bundesliga game on Saturday afternoon. Rob Friend and Michael Bradley were on target for Borussia – along with three Hannover players!

The game got off to a slow start but soon picked up pace. After two warning shots from Jan Rosenthal for the visitors Marco Reus had the first of many good moments. Embarking on a fine run down the right-hand side he showed great vision to square the ball to Rob Friend, but the Canadian's control let him down and he eventually lost possession. Borussia took a while to find their rhythm but opened the scoring with their second attack of the game on 15 minutes in a move that seemed to have broken down. Hannover centre-back Karim Haggui was shielding the ball from Reus, but the onrushing Florian Fromlowitz slipped as he attempted to clear and the ball rebounded back off Haggui and - most unfortunately from the visitors' point of view – rolled gently over the line.

Borussia up the pressure

Borussia stepped up the pressure after being gifted the opener and within five minutes the unmarked Friend clipped the top of the crossbar from eight metres. But just two minutes later the Canadian went one better, powering a header into the net from Tobias Levels's right-wing cross. And Hannover? The visitors were playing well enough, but were not getting the breaks they needed. As, for example, when Sergio Pinto lobbed the ball over Logan Bailly after a fine pass from Jiri Stajner, only to see it land just wide of the goal, and when Arnold Bruggink's long-range effort shaved the post. Hannover's attacking threat kept Borussia's central defence, so solid in recent weeks, exceptionally busy, but Michael Frontzeck's men were not content to sit on their two-goal lead either.

Michael Bradley had probably the best opportunity to make it 3-0 when he chased what appeared to be a lost cause, stole the ball from Fromlowitz and bent it over the keeper from almost on the bye-line, only to see his effort hit the bar. Moments later Hannover halved the deficit with a goal their play to that point deserved, Didier Ya Konan claiming the ball in the goal area from a corner and netting with a clinical finish. Borussia hit back with a string of great chances in the run-up to half-time, but a third goal just would not come. Dante, Brouwers, Reus and Friend (twice) all spurned opportunities and Borussia could well have gone in at the break further ahead.

Second half just as lively

The second half was just as lively as the first. Karim Matmour was the first to try his luck on 53, and then Juan Arango found Friend with a peach of a pass. But the Canadian lost possession to Haggui as he attempted to bring the ball under control. And just as in the first 45 the visitors helped the home side cash in on a host of chances, though the situation that led to Borussia's third goal could hardly be called a chance. Constant Djakpa attempted to knock the ball back to his goalkeeper, but his backpass from outside the area went badly astray, flying past the bewildered Fromlowitz and into the net.

The Hannover custodian was similarly powerless ten minutes later when Bradley hammered a low indirect free-kick through a gap in the wall to put Borussia 4-1 in front on 68. That wasn't to be the end of things, however, as the game continued to offer high entertainment value. Just sixty seconds later the impressive Pinto crossed the ball to Ya Konan, who (illegally) shrugged off the challenge of Brouwers and Levels and slipped the ball past Bailly to make it 4-2. And just before the end Christian Schulz made it 4-3 following a defensive error by Jean-Sébastien Jaurès before Haggui, incredibly, put the ball in his own net for the second time in stoppage time.

In the end Borussia ran out worthy winners against the visitors from Lower Saxony even though things did get exciting again towards the end. The fans of both sides witnessed a strange but very entertaining game, though obviously the Borussia supporters had more reason to be happy.


Borussia: Bailly – Levels, Brouwers, Dante, Jaurès – Bradley, Marx – Reus, Arango (Kleine 90') – Matmour (Neuville 85'), Friend (Colautti 85')

Hannover 96: Fromlowitz - Cherundolo (Schlaudraff 68'), Haggui, Schulz, Rausch (Hanke 57') - Balitsch - Pinto, Rosenthal (Djakpa 22') - Bruggink - Stajner, Ya Konan

Goals: 1-0 Haggui (o.g. 15'), 2-0 Friend (22'), 2-1 Ya Konan (36'), 3-1 Djakpa (o.g. 58'), 4-1 Bradley (68'), 4-2 Ya Konan (69'), 4-3 Schulz (88'), 5-3 Haggui (o.g. 90')

Yellow cards: Matmour – Balitsch, Schulz, Ya Konan

Red card (second yellow): Ya Konan (83')

Attendance: 43,528

Referee: Michael Kempter