Hoffenheim down Hannover 3-1 in German Bundesliga

BERLIN, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Hoffenheim reaped their third straight victory after easing 3-1 past Hannover at the opener of the 32nd round in Bundesliga on Friday.

Julian Nagelsmann's men increase their chances on a berth for the international business as a hattrick from Andrej Kramaric helped Hoffenheim move into the top four.

Hoffenheim grabbed a lively start on home turf and pressed Hannover into the defence from the kick off. Hence, it took 16 minutes before the hosts opened the scoring, as Andrej Kramaric made no mistake to tap home Serge Gnabry's assist.

Hannover remained unimpressed and responded well through Kenan Karaman, who tapped home Pirmin Schwegler's square pass to restore parity eight minutes later.

After the restart, Hoffenheim increased the pressure and their effort got rewarded with five minutes into the second half when Kramaric sealed his brace after hammering home a volley for the 2-1 lead.

The host remained on the front foot and were not done with the scoring as substitute Adam Szalai missed a promising chance before Kramaric rounded off the 3-1 victory by providing his third goal of the night in the dying minutes of the game.

With the third win in row, Hoffenheim move on the 4th place and eye for a place in Europe meanwhile Hannover suffered their second consecutive loss to continue on the 13th position of the standings.

"It is overall a deserved victory. If we qualify for the Champion's League that would be a sensation even the Europa League would be really great," Hoffenheim's coach Julian Nagelsmann said.

"The result doesn't reflect the game at all. We played well and made it very difficult for the opponent. However, we conceded the goals too easy. You can not win against a top team like that," Hannover's coach Andre Breitenreiter said.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: newly crowned champions Bayern Munich host Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha Berlin encounter Augsburg, relegation threatened Freiburg clash with Cologne for the bottom clash, runner up Schalke face Borussia Monchengladbach, struggling Wolfsburg see bottom side Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen take on Stuttgart. Enditem