Düsseldorf 1 - 2 Hannover (369049394)

Dark skies made the crowd of 9168 at Otter Kampfbahn a little nervous, but the rain held off. Taha Jahaf was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ragnar Vada and Bernhard Alt. Düsseldorf decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. Starters: Månsson - Ritsch, Török, Casal, Chevillard, Kováč - Zukal-Holinger, Matos, Bundus, Garcia - Burhan.

Hannover had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Serey - Dathe, Dujka, Ankenbrand - Boysen, Kirtzel, Fliehser, Tatti, Niedermayr - Baranek, Scaloni.

Today, Hannover's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Düsseldorf had a chance to take the lead after M. Chevillard's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 17 minutes. The referee showed Hannover's D. Ankenbrand the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Making his way up the middle 19 minutes into the match, S. Török almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert Y. Serey blocked it to keep the score level. Düsseldorf had to make a substitution after 20 minutes. V. Kováč limped off the field and was replaced by G. Preissinger. A. Casal's inexperience was obvious when his continual hesitation to put in a tackle allowed R. Baranek plenty of time to pick an unguarded area of the goal for his shot, marking one for Hannover. 0 - 1. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Düsseldorf enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 60 percent of possession.

Hannover made it 0 - 2 as L. Dathe got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to D. Ankenbrand who whipped a low drive in off the far post. R. Baranek of Hannover received a yellow card after 50 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 59 minutes, Düsseldorf tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 73 minutes, Düsseldorf did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, E. Burhan was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 2. The visitors almost increased their lead after 74 minutes when a sweetly hit free kick looked like it was heading for the top corner. However the keeper managed to get a fingertip to it, sending it over the bar. The bench was restless, and with 80 minutes passed Düsseldorf's coach gave J. Maassen the opportunity the player had been hoping for. E. Zukal-Holinger reluctantly left the field. The Hannover players could smell victory in the air. R. Niedermayr wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for F. Zarnewenz after 85 minutes. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Düsseldorf, with 63 percent of the ball.

Düsseldorf's best player was E. Burhan. However, Z. Månsson made a disastrous appearance. Most important Hannover player was H. Fliehser. E. Kirtzel turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 2.