Goal imminent
Manager Tayfun Korkut made eight changes to the side that faced Red Star Belgrade. Only goalkeeper Almer, Thesker and goalscorer Joselu retained their places in the starting XI. The Reds dominated the Hungarian side from the off and were creating chance after chance. The first major chance fell to Stefan Thesker but keeper Gelei tipped his header over the bar from Kiyotake’s corner. Kenan Karaman found himself with a free run on the Hungarian goal moments later but he was unable to hold his nerves and passed up the opportunity. A further piece of bad luck struck the 96 in the 17th minute when Jan Schlaudraff curled his shot from the left of the box onto the far post.



Big chances missed
The biggest chances in the first half fell to Schlaudraff and then to Joselu shortly after. ‘Schlaufi’ blazed a penalty over the bar just after the half-hour mark after the Hungarian side handled in the box before he found himself one-on-one with Gelei again four minutes later. He squared the ball to Joselu in support, who hit the ball over the crossbar from close range. The Hungarian side were visibly happy at half-time as they went back to the dressing room with the score still goalless.



Two changes at half time
Petler and Sulejmani replaced Felipe and Schmiedebach respectively at the interval. New signing Ceyhun Gülselam consequently moved alongside Thesker at centre-back. It took roughly ten minutes for 96 to create their next chance when Kenan Karaman whipped in an inviting ball from the left flank towards the goal but no one was able to get on the end of it. The angle was just too tight for the prominent Schlaudraff at the back post.



Csakvar take surprising lead
Csakvar then took the lead in the 68th minute from the spot after a foul in the box. Laszlo Imrik gave the Hungarian team an undeserved lead after the penalty was originally saved by Almer. The Reds seemed shell-shocked after conceding. It was Jan Schlaudraff who finally found the net with his left-foot to equalize for Hannover with ten minutes remaining. There were no chances of note in the final stages though and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.



Not good enough in front of goal
Tayfun Korkut: “We weren’t good enough in front of goal and we should have reached double-figures. But in hindsight, I have to separate myself from that opinion as manager. There was good build-up play for all of our chances. In this respect, this game was also very valuable for our understanding and realisation. It was crucial to see lots of good signs. We’ll keep on working on things.”




Statistics:



Hannover 96: Almer - Rankovic, Felipe (Pietler 45’), Thesker, Albornoz - Schmiedebach (Sulejmani 45’), Gülselam - Kiyotake, Karaman, Schlaudraff - Joselu



Csakvar TK: Gelei, Hajdu, Sotet, Dullo, Ambrus, Barcsay (Wild 57’), Bakos, Molnar, Molnar, Varga, Gajdos



Goals: 0-1 Imrik (68’), 1-1 Schlaudraff (79’)