Hannover 96 has solidified their position in the top group of the 2. Bundesliga. The Lower Saxons won 2-1 at 1. FC Magdeburg on Friday evening. For 96 coach Christian Titz, the success was very special: he had come from Magdeburg to Hannover in the summer and now wants to achieve promotion to the Bundesliga with the Lower Saxons. After the second win in a row, things are looking good again for the 'Reds'. Hannover showed the better game plan, but had to be on guard against Magdeburg's counter-attacks. The first big chance came in the 21st minute for Daisuke Yokota, who, after a mistake by Magdeburg's Alexander Nollenberger, entered the penalty area unchallenged, but his shot just missed the left post. The tempo was determined by 96, with a lot of play going through Elias Saad on the left side. However, the former St. Paulian was not involved in the opening goal. Kolja Oudenne played Benjamin Källman free, who selflessly passed to Yokota. This time, the Japanese player kept his nerves and scored his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-0. Yokota's chance conversion was still clearly improvable despite his goal. Källman also missed a good opportunity shortly after the restart. This seemed to be punished. Five minutes later, Noël Aséko Nkili lost the ball in his own penalty area. Baris Atik took the gift and converted it to a lucky equalizer. However, this only lasted for three minutes, as Hannover did not let themselves be impressed and took the lead again through Enzo Leopold. He scored with a low shot from 15 meters. 96 then maintained control, but failed to convert their superiority into a potentially decisive third goal. So Magdeburg stayed in the game and increased their offensive frequency - almost with success. Marcus Mathisen hit the crossbar with a spectacular long-range shot. Rayan Ghrieb forced Hannover's goalkeeper Nahuel Noll to make a strong save. As so often, it was not without a scare for Titz's team, but they managed to secure the win and reduce the deficit to second-placed Darmstadt 98 to two points, at least temporarily.