Hoffenheim thrash nine-man Hannover

Hoffenheim have brushed aside Hannover in the Bundesliga with a 4-1 win against their nine-man opponents.

The hosts started brightly as Mame Biram Diouf went close with an effort inside the opening 10 minutes, but it soon went wrong for the hosts.

Christian Schulz brought down Anthony Modeste in the box and Sejad Salihovic smashed his penalty into the roof of the net.

Diouf was booked in the aftermath then swiftly shown his second yellow card for a dive, which reduced Hannover to 10 men.

Before 20 minutes were up Hoffenheim were two in front, this time Kai Herdling heading powerfully from Andreas Beck's cross.

Roberto Firmino had an effort well saved before he came out strongly after the break to score twice.

First Salif Sane pulled one back with a header 10 minutes after the restart but the cushion was swiftly restored five minutes later as Firmino finished low from the edge of the box.

He grabbed his second with a fine solo effort that was finished from just inside the box and any hope of a Hannover comeback was ended when Marcelo was handed a straight red card a minute later.