Jairo Samperio scored the only goal of the game as 1. FSV Mainz 05 inflicted a third successive defeat on Hannover 96 head coach Thomas Schaaf on Matchday 20.

HANNOVER 0-1 MAINZ

Goals: 0-1 Samperio (24’)

Mainz had lost their last two on the road, but they did not let that hold them back at the HDI-Arena. The 05ers were the much better side in the first half, Jairo Samperio taking advantage of some lacklustre Hannover defending to stroke home Christian Clemens’ low cross for the opener. Yunus Malli, Leon Balogun and Gaetan Bussman all went close to adding to the 05ers’ lead, before Hannover midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach sent an errant effort into the stands.

The Hannover fans were given reason to cheer shortly after the restart when Hungary international Adam Szalai forced a belated save out of Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius. Hugo Almeida should have sent the home faithful into raptures with little over 20 minutes remaining, but the Portugal international was unable to hit the target from a promising position. In spite of a mediocre performance, Mainz almost made it two late on when Clemens’ audacious effort came back off the crossbar with Hannover stopper Ron-Robert Zieler rooted to the spot.

Man of the Match

Few players work as hard off the ball as Mainz striker Yoshinori Muto, who barely allowed Hannover’s new-look back four time to catch their breath before being replaced by Fabian Frei in the 75th minute.

Talking Point

These are worrying times for rock-bottom Hannover, who travel to Borussia Dortmund next week on the back of a six-match losing run.

Match Stats

Bundesliga debutant Alexander Milosevic is only the second Swede to play for Hannover after Christoffer Andersson.Giulio Donati is the first Italian to play for Mainz in the Bundesliga.Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler extended his record run of consecutive Bundesliga appearances to 162. The Germany international has played in every Bundesliga game since the 4-1 defeat in Dortmund in April 2011.

Line-ups

Hannover: Zieler - H. Sakai, Milosevic, Schulz (c.), Prib - Hoffmann (Sobiech 63’) - Yamaguchi (Sane 35’), Bech (Karaman 68’) - Schmiedebach - Almeida, Szalai

Mainz: Karius - Donati, Balogun, Bell, Bussmann - Latza (Moritz 85’), Baumgartlinger (c.) - Clemens, Malli (Cordoba 67’), Samperio - Muto (Frei 75’)