Kenyan midfielder Linton Maina was over the moon after bagging the match-winner for Hannover 96 as they edged Hamburg SV 1-0 in the 2. Bundesliga on Sunday.The 22-year-old secured his second goal of the season that lifted Hannover from the relegation zone after a torrid start to the season that has seen them win only four out of 16 games.Nach dem 1:0-Sieg gegen den @HSV beantwortet #H96-Torschütze Linton #Maina die Fragen am #96TV-Mikrofon. Seht und lest hier alle Stimmen zum Spiel #H96HSV. 👇 📺 #NiemalsAllein ⚫️⚪️💚 https://t.co/GAkDKp96sM— Hannover 96 (@Hannover96) December 5, 2021 Maina was delighted to bag a goal against a seasoned outfit such as Hamburg with his goal ending the team’s eight-game winless streak in the league. “Wins always feel good. Against teams like Hamburg, it’s always a bit more fun, especially when you win in the end. For the goal, I actually have to thank Maxi, who had a great action beforehand,”“I saw that we had a counter-opportunity and made a long way forward and was right in the end. The win today was definitely a relief and I’m happy that we were able to reward ourselves with a win,” said Maina.The versatile midfielder who can feature as a winger on both flanks or as an attacking midfielder was born in Berlin to a German mother and a Kenyan father.Despite featuring for the German Junior sides, Maina is still eligible for Harambee Stars having never represented Die Mannschaft’s senior side. Hannover head coach Christoph Dabrowski was elated after getting the monkey off his back and is hoping to build on the victory to revive their promotion hopes. 90+6′ SIIIIIIIIIIEG!!!!!!!! Wir gewinnen gegen den @HSV mit 1:0. #H96 #NiemalsAllein ⚫️⚪️💚| #H96HSV 1:0 pic.twitter.com/ylyR4O24Li— Hannover 96 (@Hannover96) December 5, 2021 “First and foremost, I’m happy today that the team won the game – after a long dry spell. Hamburger SV is an incredibly good possession team, and you saw that again today. So we always had to make a lot of paths,”“The team was very willing and I am very happy that they rewarded themselves with the win. I hope the team will take the momentum with them over the next few weeks,” said Dabrowski.
