A Patrick Helmes hat-trick helped Bayer Leverkusen to a convincing 4-0 victory over Hannover.

Germany striker stars for Bayer with hat-trick

A Patrick Helmes hat-trick helped Bayer Leverkusen to a convincing 4-0 victory over Hannover at the BayArena on Friday. Simon Rolfes had opened the scoring early in the piece, but Helmes then stole the headlines as Bayer's visitors had no answer. Germany midfielder Rolfes netted the first goal of the game on five minutes as he put the ball past Hannover goalkeeper Robert Enke. Helmes then doubled the advantage on 19 minutes as Bayer, who have moved second in the Bundesliga, took control. And 14 minutes after the interval Helmes had his second of the night and the summer signing then made sure he was taking the match ball home with him as he completed his hat-trick with 25 minutes remaining. Helmes was included in Germany's 26-man provisional Euro 2008 squad, but was eventually left out in favour of Oliver Neuville.