Ya Konan at the double

Didier Ya Konan scored twice as Hannover thumped Nurnberg 4-1 to remain among the Bundesliga pacesetters.

Didier Ya Konan scored twice and Szabolcs Huszti collected two assists and a goal as Hannover thumped Nurnberg 4-1 to remain among the Bundesliga pacesetters. Lars Stindl gave Hannover the lead in the 21st minute and Huszti made it 2-0 after 29 minutes. Ya Konan then picked up his brace of goals in the 52nd and 64th minutes before Timothy Chandler scored a consolation goal in the 73rd minute for Nurnberg. The result saw Hannover extend their unbeaten run at home to 21 matches and leaves them third in the league with 10 points - five behind leaders Bayern Munich and three adrift of Eintracht Frankfurt. Nurnberg remain on seven points. The hosts took the lead with their first chance when Timm Klose lost the ball in midfield and Huszti passed to Stindl for a left-footed strike into the top left corner from 13 yards. Huszti did the work himself eight minutes later, doubling the lead as he snatched the ball from Per Nilsson and then beat Nurnberg keeper Raphael Schafer with a superbly taken left-foot shot for his third goal of the season. Ya Konan further extended the lead to 3-0 at the start of the second half, stealing possession from Chandler and racing past Nilsson before beating Schafer. The hosts struck again 12 minutes later as Huszti won the ball from Markus Feulner and passed to Ya Konan and the Ivory Coast striker beat Schafer for his second of the night. It was also Huszti's seventh assist of the season. Chandler was able to score a consolation goal with 17 minutes left, hitting home a cross from Feulner which slipped through the hands of Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler, but it was nowhere near enough to threaten the home side's victory.