Salihamidzic at the double for Wolfsburg

Hasan Salihamidzic scored two goals in a Bundesliga match for the first time in more than 10 years as Wolfsburg grabbed a crucial 4-1 victory over 10-man Hannover.

Salihamidzic scored in the 22nd and 36th minutes to give Wolfsburg a 2-0 lead. Christian Schulz pulled a goal back in the 43rd minute.

Chris gave Wolfsburg a two-goal lead again after 56 minutes and then Hannover went a man down two minutes later as Didier Ya Konan was shown a red card. Alexander Madlung finished off the game with a goal in the 74th minute.

In the process, Wolfsburg collected just their second victory in the last six games to improve to 16 points. Hannover remained on 19 points with their third defeat in the last five games.

Wolfsburg took the lead after 22 minutes after an error by Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler who should have stopped Salihamidzic's shot from 20 yards but watched it go past him into his goal.

Salihamidzic made it 2-0 after 36 minutes off a corner which was headed on by Chris to the veteran Bosnian, who headed in from 10 yards out off a Hannover defender against the crossbar. It was Salihamidzic's first two-goal haul since October 2001 with Bayern Munich.

Hannover pulled a goal back after 43 minutes on a Christian Pander corner from the right side which Schulz headed in from four yards out.

Wolfsburg made it 3-1 after 56 minutes with Ashkan Dejagah crossing from the right side to Chris, who had loads of time and space to head in from eight yards.

Hannover went a man down in the 58th minute after a red card for Ya Konan, who threw the ball in the direction of the corner but hit Makoto Hasebe, who was on the ground injured.

The lead was 4-1 after 74 minutes from blasted free-kick by Madlung from two yards outside the box.