Hannover squandered the opportunity to go second in the Bundesliga after being thrashed 4-0 by Cologne.

Novakovic nets twice in surprise 4-0 victory

Hannover squandered the opportunity to go second in the Bundesliga after being thrashed 4-0 by Cologne on Friday night. Hannover have been in fine form in recent weeks, beating Bayern Munich 3-1 last time out to extend their unbeaten run to five games. A victory at the Rhein Energie Stadion would have lifted Hannover at least temporarily above Bayer Leverkusen, who face Mainz on Sunday. However, Cologne, just four points clear of the relegation zone at kick-off, produced a superb performance to run out emphatic winners. Petit opened the scoring with a free-kick in the 36th minute before Lukas Podolski made it 2-0 on the hour mark after being released by Christian Clemens' pass. Slovenian striker Milivoje Novakovic then netted twice from close range in the final 11 minutes to seal the rout and put Cologne up to tenth in the standings.