Berlin - Stuttgart made an emphatic statement in their battle to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga on Sunday when they thrashed fellow strugglers Hannover 5-1.

Mario Gomez opened the scoring in the fourth minute, guiding a shot past Hannover goalkeeper Michael Esser into the bottom corner.

Ozan Kabak scored Stuttgart's second in the 16th minute, heading in from a corner and added another in first-half injury time, again with his head, this time to convert a cross from Gonzalo Castro.

Hannover coach Thomas Doll made two attacking changes at half-time, bringing on Marvin Bakalorz and Jonathas.

It looked an inspired change in the 69th minute when Jonathas cut the deficit to 3-1.

However, Stuttgart reasserted their authority with Steven Zuber adding two more goals in the 78th and 81st minutes.

The result sees Stuttgart remain third from bottom but they now have a five-point cushion on Hannover who remain in the automatic relegation places alongside rock-bottom Nuremberg.