Borussia Dortmund have extended their winless run in the Bundesliga to six matches following a 1-0 defeat to Hannover on Saturday.
It was a lively start to the game, and the visitors created a rare opportunity when the ball fell to Leonardo Bittencourt in the box, and he was just inches away with a powerful effort from inside the box.
Dortmund would soon begin to dominate proceedings, but their progress was halted by Ron-Robert Zieler, who reacted impressively to push Henrikh Mkhitaryan's effort past the post.
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Unsurprisingly, it was the creativity of Marco Reus which caused the majority of problems for Hannover in the first half, and he twice went close before the break with curling efforts from the edge of the box.
Reus and Dortmund were left frustrated once again early in the second half as the influential attacker dragged a disappointing effort wide, before seeing his next strike pushed to safety by Zieler.
Adrian Ramos, given a start ahead of Ciro Immobile, wasted another chance for Dortmund by firing wide from six yards after latching onto an Ilkay Gundogan cross.
Jurgen Klopp's side were punished for their wastefulness in front of goal in the 61st minute as Hiroshi Kiyotake handed a surprise lead to Hannover with a free kick which left Roman Weidenfeller helpless.
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Hannover grew in confidence after going ahead, and Weidenfeller was called into action to keep out Joselu and Kiyotake as the visitors threatened to double their advantage.
Predictably, an extended spell of pressure from Dortmund did arrive in the closing stages, with Ramos heading just wide of the post as the hosts desperately searched for a way back into the game.
However, Hannover held on to pick up all three points, despite seeing Ceyhun Gulselam dismissed for a second bookable offence late on.
Callum Mulvihill
