2-0 at the half..... for Hanover. A rebound off a free kick from 20 yds. and a long range free kick from about 35 yds out. I just started watching in the 40th minute, so far Cherry hasn't had much action. No sign of Casey.
Staejner had the first goal and Viniciues had the pretty free kick for the second goal. Steve made the halftime highlights. Made a great run down the right side of midfield and put a cross right on Bobic's head in the box. Kahn made the save, however.
48 minutes in. Cherundolo involved in the offense, make a couple of runs in to the offensive third. 50th minute, Cherundolo picks the pocket of the BM left winger.
51st minute - Hanover's midfield been playing well, stringing together some decient runs of possession. Off a free kick, Elber can't quite get to the ball in the 6 yard box, and the Hanover keeper swipes it out of the air. 54th minute - Corner for BM. Hanover keeper catches it at the 6 yard mark. 56th minute - BM starting to put together more possession. but Bobic hacked down about 40 yards out. Free kick for Hanover comes to nothing.
57 - Cherundolo clears out of the 18, but Hargreaves get the clearance and rockets a shot from 30 yds. Keeper punches clear for a corner. CK comes to nothing. 58 - Ze Roberto tries to get behind Cherundolo but is offside. 61 - Lizarazu subbed out by BM. Didn't catch who the sub was(Arnott?).
63 - Cherundolo carries ball out of his own 18. "Cherundolo has had a fine game". Ball gets to one of the Hanover strikers all alone against Kahn from about 30 yards out. Dribbles into box and makes a complet mess of it. 64 - Off the ensuing corner, Kahn with a great save off of Stajner. 65 - Cherundolo with a poor foul, as the ball was about to go out. 66 - Cherundolo wins a throw in off of Ze Roberto deep in Hanover's end. "Cherundolo has had the better of that matchup all day."
68 - Van Hintu out, Schueller(?) in for Hanover.First sub of the match. 69 - Elber with a dangerous header in the box, comes to nothing. 71 - Idriessu is the striker who made a mess of things earler. Just comitted another bad foul. If this guy is CC's competition, he might have a chance to get playing time. Ahh, what the heck do I know, though, as this is first time I've seen them play.
Beginning to look like he won't get any time this year. Too bad, as he was promising last year, when healthy.
Well, Idriossou is considered a "winger" almost in Rangnick's 4-3-3. The guys that are keeping CC on the bench are Bobic and Kaufmann, since Rangnick seemingly thinks Casey can't play one of the side forward roles.
Reading Hannover's site, he seemingly does well in practice--but Rangnick likes to stick with the players he trusts, I guess.
75 - Hargreaves having an excellent game in midfield for BM. Tries to get the ball down the left wing, though, and Cherundolo will have none of that. Suddenly I'm watching Werder Bremen vs. Borussia(?). No wait, back to Hanover now... 77 - Goal off a corner for Sagnol(BM). Nice header beats the keeper who was going for the cross. 78 - BM looking very dangerous now. Hanover keeper makes a nice save. of a rocket from 25 yds out. Another late collapse for Hanover? 80 - Pizarro called for offside in the 18. Scraps with Hanover defender who had a dangerous boot in the air. Cherundolo, comes over an plays peacemaker.
84 - Cherundolo with a giveaway in midfield. N?othing dangerous. 85 - Oh the keeper made a mess of that. 2-2.
Weak shot from about 35 yds, keeper couldn't hold onto it. Pizarro cleans up the rebound. Pizarro was Cherundolo's mark. A bit of ball watching on his part, although I'm sure he was trying to keep a tight offsides line. No way the keeper should have given up the rebound though.
88 - Cherundolo with a bad give away in his defensive third. Trying to dribble out of trouble, rather then just clear the ball. Comes to nothing though. 89 - Idrissou with a another bad fould about 25 yds out. Dangerous FK for BM.
90 - Tarnat(BM) kicks right into the wall. Weak shot off the rebound from 35 yds comes to nothing. 92 - Pizarro with a cheaky back heel on Cherundolo. Ref calls phantom foul on Hanover just right of the 18. FK comes to nothing. FT. 2-2 Hanover gives up two goals in final 15.
I saw the last 15 minutes . If 96 played like that for the entire match,it's a miracle that they even scored two goals.They were a beaten side and thoroughly lucky to escape with the tie.It sounded like they were doing OK up to the 75' mark. This isn't the first time either-they have allowed 16 goals this season in the last 15 min. of games. Olaf,Buff,or anyone - why is this?Is it fitness,nerves,or are they so far over their head in BL1 they can't be effective for a full match? On the tying goal ,sorry ,but you never assume the keeper holds the shot.You play to beat your mark to the rebound.It's on Cherundolo.
Definitely Steve's job to keep Pizarro away from that rebound. Other than that, he played OK. Kept Ze Roberto from running wild.
I thought Steve was EXCELLENT. I have never seen a defender do a better job on Ze Roberto.He is a world class player and Steve controlled him nicely.
Steve looked very good defensively to me. The only mistake I saw was losing Pizarro. As Bruce said, he owned Ze Roberto. Offensively he also looked very good, with a couple of dangerous forays in to the attacking third. He did make a few mistakes, primarily in the middle third, where he made a couple of poor passes. Overall, a better then average game, but not an excellent one.
Pizzaro also schooled Steve in injury time.As I said ,I only saw the last part of the match when Hannover were horrid. Didn't mean to put the responsibility for the lost points entirely on Steve - it was a team effort .