Mainz 05 too strong for Hannover

Yoshinori Muto scored twice as Mainz 05 eased to a 3-0 victory over Hannover at the Coface Arena.

The hosts were ahead in just the 16th minute as they retained possession on the edge of the box before Muto found the space to fire in a shot off the post on the turn.

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Hannover looked vulnerable throughout the first half and they were punished when Mainz doubled their lead through Muto, who capitalised on poor marking to send home a free header from Stefan Bell's cross.

The visitors threatened to pull a goal back against the run of play before the break, but Salif Sane could only drag his effort wide of the post from the edge of the box.

Any hopes of a fightback from Hannover were dashed two minutes after the interval when Yunus Malli sprinted clear of the last defender before rounding Ron-Robert Zieler to tap in his side's third of the afternoon.

Hannover appeared to be powerless to prevent the hosts from creating opportunities, and Muto was inches away from a hat-trick when his long-range effort deflected just over the crossbar.

A lapse of concentration from Mainz gifted another chance to Sane when the ball broke to him on the edge of the box, but he summed up Hannover's day as his shot rebounded back off the post.