Battle for the 5th position - Leitl vows to fight following 96 victories.
The top players in the second division include Lars Stindl (35) who has ended his career and Marcel Halstenberg (32) who will continue on. Luckily for Hannover 96!
Despite generating some controversy, Halstenberg shed light on his personal aspirations. "We aimed to end up in the top six this season. And we accomplished it with sixth place," he beamed proudly.
However, this seemingly minor disagreement caught the attention of Stefan Leitl (46), coach of Karlsruhe. "We haven't completely achieved our objectives yet," he cautiously countered. "We have made progress, but we still have unfulfilled ambitions." Specifically, securing a fifth-place finish.
The 2-1 outcome meant that Hannover 96 and Karlsruhe shared an equal number of points (52), yet the former still nestled in sixth place due to a less favorable goal difference.
Leitl then issued a warning to both Karlsruhe and Christian Eichner, Karlsruhe's coach, ahead of the final matchday. "We're attempting to catch Karlsruhe." There was an unanticipated possibility for Hannover 96 to even briefly occupy the fourth position if HSV underperformed.
As Leitl and Eichner parted ways, Halstenberg jokingly commented, "Let's see if they bring their A-game. We also desire a win." While Leitl reinforced the significance of the upcoming showdown, "There are still two matters that haven't been resolved with Kiel."
In last year's season, Hannover 96 faced a humiliating one-sided match (1:5) at home and experienced a loss (0:3) in Kiel.
Karlsruhe's Andreas Voglsammer (19) netted the first goal in front of an assist from Sei Muroya. It would have been a double scoring opportunity for Nicolo Tresoldi and Yannik Lührs, who replaced the suspended Phil Neumann in the starting lineup.
However, Lührs later bore the brunt of misfortune in the back line as well. In the 45th minute, Paul Nebel netted a header, tying the game after a video review.
Halstenberg steals the show!
In a surprising turn of events, Halstenberg added another goal to the scoreboard in the 65th minute. He converted a corner kick by Brooklyn Ezeh into a 2-1 lead for Hannover 96.
The match ended with Hannover 96 earning all three points, as Leitl recognized the prowess of his team, "Compliments to my players. With a capable goalkeeper and good team spirit, our intention was to win and we succeeded."
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Source: symclub.org
