Joselu and Leo Bittencourt struck late on to break Freiburg hearts and keep their European dreams alive and kicking as the Bundesliga ticks into the six-week winter break. Goals either side of half-time from Frantz and Kempf looked to have sealed an important win for the hosts, before a late fightback from Hannover gave them a share of the spoils on Sunday evening.
With a win taking them to within just one point from the coveted Champions League positions, die Roten started the game with attacking intent, and had the first real chance when some impressive build-up play saw Jimmy Briand tee up Lars Stindl, who couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and hit a tame shot towards Burki in the Freiburg net.
Bürki was the star of the show as he restricted Bayern to two goals in midweek, and he showed that wasn’t a one-off when he made a superb save from Joselu after 13 minutes. A superb through ball saw him break into the box, cut inside, and then curl a shot that looked destined for the bottom corner until Bürki managed to turn it around the post superbly.
Freiburg were struggling to get into the game, though went closest when Mehmedi skipped away on the counter, and lined up Darida 25 yards out, whose shot beat Zieler, but just went a whisker over the bar.
A good spell of pressure ensued for Christian Streich’s side, and they thought they had a huge penalty shout on the 20 minute mark when Sakai appeared to block an effort with his arm, though despite heavy protesting, Günter Perl was not interested in giving anything but a corner.
Tayfun Korkut’s side were looking more likely to unlock the door and give us a first goal, and the Spanish forward Joselu again went close when Albornoz squared it, only to see the striker side-foot over the bar.
Jimmy Briand then went close when his header from a Kiyotake corner rebounded off the post, before the Japanese international then sent Joselu through, who beat the ‘keeper but saw his effort strike the other post as Hannover looked to turn the screw before the break.
The deadlock was finally broken on the stroke of half-time, though it was the hosts that grabbed it against the run of play. Christian Günter broke away down the left, and his cut back saw three players lining up as Mike Frantz slotted home to take advantage of some more inexplicable Hannover defending.
It was nearly two just after the break as it was Freiburg’s turn to rattle the woodwork through Klaus, before Darida directed a header straight at Zieler.
There was a lack of punch that nearly brought the breakthrough in the first-half for Hannover, and they again nearly fell further behind when Felix Klaus wormed his way through three defenders before Marcelo made a last-ditch block.
Mehmedi was running the show in midfield during the second half and he was next to hit the woodwork when he forced Zieler to tip his long-range effort onto the crossbar, as Korkut’s side were hanging on to be just one-nil down.
The visitors were struggling to break down a dogged Freiburg back four, and even when Lars Stindl broke through, he tried to square but couldn’t beat the impressive Bürki.
Just as the game looked to be petering out, the home side struck again to put what looked like the final nail in Hannover’s coffin. Schmid’s whipped corner found Kempf, who powered a header past Zieler to extend their lead.
That second settled the home side, though Hannover refused to wave the white flag – and their resilience was rewarded just a minute later when Stindl bundled through the defence, and rolled the ball across the box for the substitute Bittencourt to smash home.
In truth, that goal was against the run of play in the second half, and an equaliser seemed extremely unlikely. However, just when time was running out, a horrendous clearance from Bürki gave Joselu the ball on the edge of the area, and he had the simple task of powering the ball into the empty net to send the visiting fans mad, as Streich looked on dumbfounded.
Captain Stindl then had the chance to win it in the 94th minute though saw his shot easily saved by Bürki in the Freiburg goal.
The capitulation ensured Freiburg remain propping up the table going into the winter break, while Hannover continued to keep the pressure on the top six as they climbed to within just three points of the Champions League