Levante lose to 10-man Hannover

Levante suffered their first loss of the Europa League group stages, as 10-man Hannover came from behind to claim the three points.

A Michel penalty had put the Valencia-based club ahead, but goals from Szabolcs Huszti and Didier Ya Konan put the German side top of Group L.

Juan Ignacio Martinez made wholesale changes from the XI that lost 4-0 to Osasuna at the weekend. Only Sergio Ballesteros and Vicente Iborra survived from Sunday's humiliation, with Christian Lell coming in to play against his fellow countryman.

All those changes though, only served to help the Granotes, as they went 1-0 up within 10 minutes. A foul from Karim Haggui on Theofanis Gekas inside the area, resulted in a red card for the Tunisia international, and a converted penalty from Michel.

That lead lasted only another 11 minutes though, as a handball from Iborra inside the area gave Hannover their chance to score from the spot – Huszti did, and the Bundesliga side were back on level terms.

Mirko Slomka's team were really turning the screw now, and could have gone ahead towards the end of the half, but Felipe fired his effort from the edge of the area, over.

They eventually did take the lead however, at the start of the second half, as Didier Ya Konan's poked finish from six yards out put them 2-1 up.

Slowly, the visitors' started to force themselves back into the game, with Gekas causing trouble in and around the area. The Greece international forced Ron-Robert Ziegler into a smart save, but it was the home side who went closest to scoring before the final whistle, with Huszti hitting the woodwork from inside the 18-yard box.

 

Hannover 2-1 Levante

Scorers: Huszti 21 (H) Ya Konan 49 (H); Michel 10 (L)

Hannover: Zieler; Cherundolo, Haggui, Eggimann, Rausch; Stindl, Pinto, Huszti; Schlaudraff (Felipe 11); Ya Konan, Sobiech (Diouf 75)

Levante: Navas; Lell (El Zhar 34), Ballesteros, Rodas, Karabelas; Iborra, Dudka (Angel 70), Pedro Lopez; Rios, Gekas (Ruben Garcia 70), Michel

Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)

Red card: Haggui 10 (H)

Tags Michel
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