Source: Northern_Echo
Sunderland suffer in Hannover
SUNDERLAND are still without a win during their tour of Germany after Hannover 96 ran out 3-1 victors last night.[LNB] Stephane Sessegnon registered his second goal of the tour after scoring in the 1-1 draw against Arminia Bielefeld at the weekend, with around 300 Sunderland fans making the trip to the Weserbergland-Stadion in Hamelin.[LNB] Prior to last night's match, Hannover had scored 59 goals in just five pre-season fixtures, and that hot streak showed no sign of ending in Hamelin when Mohammed Abdellaoue opened the scoring.[LNB] Sunderland went in 2-0 down at the interval when Jan Schlaudraff added to Hannover's lead three minutes after the first goal.[LNB] Manager Steve Bruce made four changes during the match as his players gain in match fitness.[LNB] Louis Laing continued his good form with a start in the centre of defence alongside Anton Ferdinand, while Ji Dong-Won continued his own game of catch-up with a decent stint up top alongside Sessegnon.[LNB] Hannover fielded former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz and rarely looked like being bettered despite Sessegnon's second half finish.[LNB] They restored their two-goal advantage, despite some Sunderland pressure, with a cool volley by Erdal Akdari to complete a 3-1 win.[LNB] Asamoah Gyan watched from the stands and will make his first appearance of pre-season when the Black Cats return from Germany.[LNB] Next up, though, is a trip to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.[LNB] Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley (Larsson), Richardson, Ferdinand, Laing, Elmohamady, Vaughan, Colback, Gardner (Cattermole), Sessegnon (Wickham), Dong-won (Malbranque). Subs not used: Pickford, Tounkara.[LNB]
