Goals from Salif Sane and Kenan Karaman proved enough for Hannover to see off a battling Hessen Kassel in the first round of the DFB-Pokal this evening.

Early on, the Bundesliga team were thankful for the intervention of Robert Zieler, who made a double save to keep the visitors on level terms.

Hannover then hit the front on 15 minutes as a corner from Felix Klaus gave Sane the chance to head the ball past Kevin Rauhut from close range.

The away side came close to doubling their lead midway through the first half as a shot from distance by Manuel Schmiedebach needed to be punched away by Rauhut.

On the stroke of half time, Zieler was again on hand to keep out the Regionalliga Sudwest outfit as he parried Hasan Pepic's header.

Midway through the second period, Pepic tried to find a breakthrough for the hosts, but his effort was kept out by Zieler before Hannover finished off their lower-league opposition when Karaman scored a second in stoppage time.