http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3592/3769223191_ecd98ae7e8.jpgArsenal emerged victorious from a very gritty affair in Germany courtesy of Cesc Fabregas’ early strike.

The Gunners saw their skipper return for preseason and it took only eight minutes for Fabregas to make his mark.

The Spaniard made a keen run into the box on eight minutes and Van Persie was quick to release him to round off the keeper and what was an intelligent move.

Armand Traore made way for Silvestre before halftime while Cesc was handed a rest after the interval.

Hannover threatened to equalize on a number of occasions and a combination of last ditch tackles from Arsenal’s centre-backs Song and Djourou and swift reactions from Wojciech Szczesny kept Wenger’s men in command.

Eduardo da Silva replaced Van Persie on 69 minutes and with the news of Kolo Toure’s departure, both men shared the armband as stand-in captains to Fabregas later on. The Croatian  was gifted Arsenal’s last genuine chance when he found himself with the ball within close-range but was too hesitant to make an effort.

The hosts maintained their stubbornness as Arsenal failed to rediscover their fluid passing, but Hannover could not match them on the score sheet.

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