Hannover 96 grabbed their first victory in 13 games, their first under Mirko Slomka, with a 2-1 win at SC Freiburg.

96 coach Slomka made just one change from the side that lost 1-0 to Wolfsburg last weekend, with Leon Andreasen coming in for the suspended Sergio Pinto in midfield. Dider Ya Konan was available after returning from injury, but the 96 boss decided against risking the Ivorian hitman.

It was the visitors who showed the early promise on a snow-covered pitch at the badenova Stadion, working hard to win the ball in midfield and working their way into the SCF box on several occasions in the opening exchanges without seriously threatening Simon Pouplin's goal.

Freiburg, however, looked to make the most of their possession and almost did so when Mohamed Idrissou raced away from Jan Durica before releasing a warning shot at Florian Fromlowitz's goal after 17 minutes. Still 96 controlled the tempo of the match and saw their first chance go begging when Constant Djakpa failed to show the necessary composure in front of goal following a 21^st-minute corner.

First came the fight (Leon Andreasen)...

The hosts began to gain some form of rhythm as the first half progressed and should have taken the lead shortly before the interval with Makiadi, Idrissou both going close before Cisse missed two gilt-edged opportunities with half-time looming.

In the second half both teams attempted to put their opponents under pressure, though neither offered much in the way of serious chances. The early phases of the second period were punctuated by sloppy passes, particularly in the final third as Pouplin and Fromlowitz remained unchallenged between their respective sticks.

While the two sides certainly showed themselves to be up for the challenge, quality was lacking as the match advanced, though Cisse should have netted for the hosts when Karim Haggui's defensive clearance rebounded off of Altin Lala, the ball landed at the Senegalese striker's feet, but the 24-year-old was unable to finish into the gaping net.

...then the celebration (Arnold Bruggink, Elson and Constant Djakpa)

That missed opportunity was to prove costly as Elson made the most of Felix Bastians' botched clearance at the other end, guiding the ball expertly into the top corner. Freiburg did not need long to respond, though, Abdessadki volleying home superbly to end Robin Dutt's side's unenviable run of ten hours without a goal on home turf. The most action-packed ten minutes of the game also brought the winner, and it went the way of the guests, Cisse inadvertently diverting an Arnold Bruggink free-kick into his own net on 73 minutes.

The match was far from over, but Freiburg again missed a good opportunity to equalise when Idrissou headed over the bar from close range, while substitute Julian Schuster crashed a free-kick against the post with just eight minutes remaining.
 
Victory in this crucial relegation six pointer thus hauls Hannover out of the bottom three and puts them well on track for survival, not to mention bringing a huge psychological boost on the back of nine straight defeats. Well done, lads!

aj

Freiburg: Pouplin - Bastians, Barth (D.R. Cha 29'), Toprak, Butscher - Caligiuri (Abdessadki 57'), Makiadi, Banovic (Schuster 67'), Jäger - Idrissou, Cissé

Hannover: Fromlowitz - Schmiedebach, Haggui, Durica, C. Schulz - Lala (Bruggink 64') - Andreasen, Djakpa - Elson (Cherundolo 79') - Stajner (Ya Konan 46'), A. Koné

Goals: 0-1 Elson (63'), 1-1 Abdessadki (70'), 1-2 Bruggink (73')

Attendance: 19,100 (Badenova-Stadion)