Struggling Hannover sack Breitenreiter

Hannover have dismissed head coach Andre Breitenreiter with the club second-bottom of the Bundesliga following an eight-match winless run. A 5-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday proved to be the final straw for the club's directors, who brought the 45-year-old's tenure to an end 22 months after his appointment in March 2017.

Breitenreiter's arrival at the club preceded an unbeaten run of nine matches as he led the club back into the Bundesliga, where Hannover finished 13th in his first full season in charge. But Hannover's 2-1 win over Wolfsburg on November 9 – only their second of the 2018-19 campaign – proved to be their last under Breitenreiter, with assistant Volkan Bulut also leaving his position.

Club manager Horst Heldt told the club's official website: "This decision is extremely difficult for us and for me personally, because the cooperation between Andre and me has been extremely close and very trusting for the entire time. His name will always be synonymous with promotion in 2017. We are grateful for the work he and Volkan Bulut have done and their good cooperation."