German Bundesliga match report: Hannover v B Munich

Bayern Munich came from behind at Hannover to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 11 points over Wolfsburg thanks to a 3-1 win at the Niedersachsenstadion.

Hiroshi Kiyotake gave Hannover the lead, but that was cancelled out within minutes by Xabi Alonso.

Thomas Muller's penalty put Bayern in front on the hour mark before he headed in a third to seal what was also Arjen Robben's 100th win in 126 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern.

Just a few months short of a full year since his last appearance for Hannover, Didier Ya Konan was back on the bench for a Bundesliga game while Bayern coach Pep Guardiola rotated his side with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski all left on the bench in view of the midweek Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

David Alaba showed in the DFB-Pokal in midweek that the goals can come from anywhere and the Austrian full-back nearly repeated his free-kick goal against Eintracht Braunschweig with another, but Ron-Robert Zieler had done his homework and was in the right place to make the save.

Bayern continued to attack with Hannover waiting for their chances to hit on the break, like in the 25th minute when they took the lead against the run of play.

Jimmy Briand was the provider for Kiyotake, whose shot from the edge of the penalty area beat Manuel Neuer low into the bottom left-hand corner.

Hannover's joy lasted only three minutes, though, before Alonso showed that Alaba is not the only Bayern player who can score direct from a free-kick as he curled his effort over the wall and into the top corner.

Guardiola then made a bold move by replacing defender Dante with Lewandowski, and the look on the Brazilian defender's face confirmed he was not leaving after only half an hour due to injury.

A reshuffle with a back three becoming a back four and Lewandowski joining Thomas Muller in the Bayern attack did not alter much, though, as the visitors still struggled to break down the Hannover defence.

Hannover made a bold change with Joselu coming on for Artur Sobiech, but only minutes after he took to the field, Marcelo caught Lewandowski's face with his foot and a penalty was awarded to Bayern.

Zieler again showed how much he had analysed his opponents, but despite staying on his feet until Muller committed to shooting from the spot, he was just unable to reach the Germany international's effort as Bayern took the lead.

Muller rose unchallenged to head in substitute Rbery's cross from the left in the 72nd minute and that put the result beyond doubt.