Unleashed HSV breaks up Hannover 96 in the north derby

Second division soccer team Hamburger SV remains in the running for direct promotion to the Bundesliga. After three games without a win, the Hanseatic League won the northern derby against Hannover 96 6:1 (2:0) and moved up to second place for at least eight hours, two points behind leaders Darmstadt 98 (on Sunday against SC Paderborn).

However, 1. FC Heidenheim can relegate HSV to relegation rank on Saturday evening by beating FC St. Pauli.

Sonny Kittel (33rd) with his first goal of the season and Slovakia’s Laszlo Benes (41st) initiated the success before the break, which is important for Hamburg’s first division ambitions. In the meantime, Hannover came back through Derrick Köhn (52nd), but then Benes provided with his fifth goal of the season (61st, penalty kick according to video evidence), the scorer Robert Glatzel (65th), who scored for the 17th time, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer ( 76th) and Ludovit Reis (87th) for the clear success of the hosts.

Hannover could not confirm its first win of the second half of the season a week ago (3:1 against SV Sandhausen) on the Elbe. With nine away games in a row without a win, the Lower Saxony bemoan their longest dry spell in foreign stadiums in more than 20 years.

The team of HSV coach Tim Walter was clearly ahead at the change of sides only because of the consistent use of their best chances. Before the two goals, the hosts again lagged behind their high standards. The Hamburgers, where captain Sebastian Schonlau was back in the team after his yellow card suspension, acted too slowly and without ideas against the compact defending guests.

In the second round, the Walter-Elf initially lacked orientation after the connection of 96. A crossbar hit by Kittel (55th), however, got the hosts back on track. Luka Kranjc had fouled Moritz Heyer in the 96 penalty area before Benes scored the decisive penalty.

After that, Hanover’s resistance was broken. As a result, Glatzel was able to end his jam after two games and further increase Königsdörffer and Reis.