Vorskla 1 – 2 Hannover 96

Published on September 29, 2011 by mod1 · No Comments

Hannover off the mark

Hannover recorded their first win of this season`s Europa League campaign as they came away from a tricky-looking encounter with Vorskla in the Ukraine with a respectable 2-1 victory.

Having drawn at home to Standard Liege in the opening round of fixtures, the Reds immediately put the pressure on themselves to do well overseas and they did that, with Mohamed Abdellaoui and Christian Pander scoring before the break.

Norway international Abdellaoui has been in red-hot form this season and has three goals to show from his four league appearances so far, and was key again, setting the tone for his side`s performance.

And, although Oleksiy Kurilov pulled a goal back for the Green and Whites, Hannover held on.

Sixth in the Ukranian League, Vorskla were always going to pose problems for their more illustrious opponents, and went close as early as the second minute when Roman Bezues worked German international Ron-Robert Zieler.

Pander had Hannover`s first effort on goal, warming the palms of Serhiy Dolhansky from 20 yards, before the visitors took the lead.

Abdellaoui scored one of the goals that defeated Sevilla over a two-legged qualifying play-offs and was at the heart of the action again as he took aim and found the bottom corner from fully 30 yards.

It was a stunning goal from the Morroco-born frontman, and his side cashed in on the confidence his goal gave them by doubling their lead before the break.

Pander had already forced Dolhansky into another save by the time he scored in the 44th minute, converting Jan Schlaudraff`s cross for the perfect half-time tonic for coach Mirko Slomka.

But Vorskla regrouped at the break and were back in the game five minutes after the whistle.

Roman Bezues made good progress down the right and his cross was met by Kurilov who did the rest.

The ever-alert Abdellaoui dragged a half-chance wide of the post as Hannover looked to recover their two-goal cushion, while at the other end Ahmed Januzi fizzed a strike over from 20 yards.

The pace of the game began to slow somewhat after that, and when Hannover`s Artur Sobiech hit over from 20 yards as the game entered the closing stages, it was the first meaningful effort in close to 15 minutes.

Things got even less interesting after that, with Kurilov`s almost apologetic injury-time effort the last action of note.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com