Wolfsburg ease past Hannover

Wolfsburg have kept the pressure on Bayern Munich by beating Hannover 3-1 to stay second in the Bundesliga.

An excellent start from the visitors was rewarded in the fourth minute when Kevin de Bruyne latched on to a headed pass from Ivan Perisic before slotting past Ron-Robert Zieler.

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Wolfsburg would continue to dominate possession after breaking the deadlock, but the Hannover defence recovered well to limit the chances on offer.

Chances were rare until the latter stages of the first half, when the improving home side hit back through Joselu, who headed home from Jimmy Briand's cross after Wolfsburg had failed to clear a free kick.

Diego Benaglio was asked to do very little before the break, but he made an important save from Marcelo's header early in the second half to keep Wolfsburg on level terms.

The Wolfsburg shot-stopper was forced into action again just after the hour mark to deny Lars Stindl, who had beaten the offside trap to find himself in plenty of space inside the box.

Benaglio's saves proved to be crucial as Wolfsburg took the lead again in the 69th minute when Bas Dost headed in from Perisic's cross less than three minutes after being sent on as a substitute.

There was time for Wolfsburg to add a third late on when substitute Maximilian Arnold sprinted clear of the home defence before firing home to secure the points.