Bayer Leverkusen beat Hannover to claim fourth spot

Bayer Leverkusen have replaced Hannover in fourth spot thanks to a 3-1 Bundesliga victory at the HDI Arena.

Karim Bellarabi would prove to be a constant threat for the visitors throughout the afternoon, but his early work failed to produce a goal as Stefan Kiessling headed an inviting cross wide of the post.

Despite dominating for long spells of the first half, Leverkusen were only level at the half-time interval due to the work of Bernd Leno, who reacted impressively to keep out Hiroshi Kiyotake's close-range volley.

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Leverkusen were ahead in the opening minute of the second half when Gonzalo Castro broke free on the left and delivered a cross to allow Kiessling to tap in from a couple of yards out.

The visitors doubled their advantage before the hour mark when Son Heung-min evaded a couple of challenges in the box before curling past the outstretched hand of Ron-Robert Zieler.

However, Hannover were back in the game just two minutes later when Ceyhun Gulselam pulled away from his markers to head home from Kiyotake's inviting free kick.

Hannover enjoyed a spell on top after reducing the deficit, but their best chance to equalise was kept out when Leno pushed Lars Stindl's effort past the post.

Leverkusen wrapped up the win when Bellarabi timed his run perfectly to latch onto a through ball from Roberto Hilbert, before calmly slotting in his side's third of the afternoon.