For Hanover 96, their second series of matches against a Belgian side in their current Europa League campaign has certainly got off to a better start than the first. In the group stage, Hanover drew 0-0 at home against Standard Liege and lost on the road 2-0 in the rematch.

In Thursday's round of 32 match against Club Bruges, however, it was the German side that prevailed. Bruges couldn't hold on to a 1-0 lead taken into the 70th minute against home-side Hanover, who scored twice in the final twenty minutes to take the win.

The two sides played a scoreless first half, but shortly after play resumed, Bruges' Maxime Lestienne put the visitors in the lead with a perfectly aimed header directly off Fredrik Stenman's cross into the corner of the goal.

Hanoverappeared to take the lead in the 71st minute when Lars Stindl passed from the end-line in front of the goal and Bruge's Ryan Donk put it into his own net. But the assistant referee had already raised his flag, claiming Stindl had committed a foul just before the pass.

The disappointment didn't hang in the air for long in AWD-Arena: Arthur Sobiech, on the pitch for a mere five minutes, cleaned up a misguided clearing header by Stenman on a Hanover free kick from short range and evened the score.

In the 80th minute, Sobiech was in a footrace with Donk in the area. He went crashing to the pitch after some contact with Donk, and Hanover was awarded a penalty. Jan Schlaudraff took the kick and coolly converted with an easy lob over the outstretched hands of a diving Vladan Kujovic in Bruge's goal.

"That was a pretty wild game," said Hanover's coach Mirko Slomka after the game. "But it was great that we stepped on the gas and managed to come back."

Bruges' coach, German Christoph Daum, is still confident looking forward to the second leg on February 23 in Bruges.

"We showed that we can play at a high level," he said. "At the end, we let up just a bit, and we didn't have the personnel to substitute. Overall, I can only compliment our team."

Draw for Schalke

Schalke played out a 1-1 draw with Czech club Viktoria Plzen on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 match-up.

The Czechs took the lead with their first attempt on goal in the 22nd minute through Vladimir Darida. Milan Petrzela took a short corner to Pavel Horvath, who chipped to the edge of the penalty box where Darida volleyed home.

The Germans had to wait until the 75th minute to find an equalizer when Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar knocked in a loose ball after Jefferson Farfan's shot took a deflection off teammate Ciprian Marica.

After the game, Huntelaar reflected on what he implied was a dour affair. "The result could have been better. We didn't play well and didn't deserve anything more" than a draw.

Schalke coach Horst Heldt, meanwhile, said his team hadn't created enough chances or pushed far enough forward. "We can certainly play better, but here only the result counts. We're in a good position."

The teams meet for the second leg clash in Gelsenkirchen on February 23.

mz,dfm/slk (AFP, Reuters)