Bremen break losing habit

Werder Bremen collected their first home victory of 2012 with an important win over fellow UEFA Europa League hopefuls Hannover. Claudio Pizarro opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Sebastian Prodl made it 2-0 four minutes after the break. Markus Rosenberg sealed the win with the third in the 56th minute. The win ended a two-game losing streak for Bremen and kept them four points ahead of their opponents in the race for European qualification. Hannover have collected just one victory in their last five games, with their exertions in the Europa League appearing to be taking their toll. Hannover had the first big chance of the game, but Werder keeper Tim Wiese made a great save to deny Didier Ya Konan from five yards in the 14th minute. Wiese came to his side's rescue again with a superb stop to keep out a Konstantin Rausch effort from 13 yards. And the visitors went close in the 30th minute, but Lars Stindl shot wide from seven yards out. Werder made Hannover pay for their wastefulness and took the lead a minute later with Pizarro converting from Mehmet Ekici's free-kick. The hosts thought they had extended their lead in first-half stoppage time, but Rosenberg's goal was disallowed for a foul by Pizarro. Werder did double their advantage in the 49th minute with Ekici again the architect. His free-kick from the right side picked out Prodl, who headed home from seven yards in his first game following nearly two months out with facial injuries suffered when he took a boot in the face from Kaiserslautern's Dorge Kouemaha. Rosenberg killed the game with a third in the 56th minute as Pizarro sent him clear and the Swede poked a shot past Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler. Hannover looked to have pulled one back in the 79th minute through Ya Konan, but the effort was ruled out for offside to complete a miserable afternoon for the hosts.