Sven Schipplock came off the bench to win the game for Hoffenheim and bring them back into European contention. Anthony Modese opened the scoring inside the first minute, though Hannover equalised through Lars Stindl's penalty and will feel hard done by to not have taken a point from the game.
Hannover's woeful run in the Rückrunde was summed up in last weekend's heavy defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. That result also saw Tafun Korkut lead the team for the last time, as Michael Frontzeck took the reigns. He immediately made his mark on the side and made five alterations; Miiko Albornoz, Salif Sane, Edgar Prib, Manuel Schmiedebach and Didier Ya Konan came in for Leonardo Bittencourt, Hiroki Sakai, Felipe, Ceyhun Gülselam and Hiroshi Kiyotake
Markus Gisdol and his side didn't have the best of results on matchday 29 either, losing out to FC Bayern München 2-0. The first game after his contract extension wasn't ideal and both Andreas Beck and Kevin Volland ruled themselves out of selection for this game after picking up their fifth bookings against Bayern. That meant David Abraham and Adam Szalai were handed the chance to shine from the start.
The defeat last weekend was quickly wiped from the memories, however, although it couldn't have started much worse for Frontzeck. Just 59 seconds in Anthony Modeste had tapped in his sixth goal of the season, capitalising on Roberto Firmino's cross-cum-shot and some lackadaisical marking to fire home just six yards.
Hannover responded well and hit the bar with a Joselu header, though the chance of a rebound evaporated with a foul on Oliver Baumann. The former Freiburg stopper made a great save from Ya Konan, as the hosts began to crank up the pressure in search of an equaliser.
That paid dividends soon enough and Tobias Strobl hauled down Schmiedebach in the area to hand Lars Stindl the chance to bring his side level; the Hoffenheim defender could have no complains. Their soon-to-be departed captain confidently stepped up and dispatched the penalty, notching up a fully deserved leveller.
The game was played at a frightening pace and Roberto Firmino almost brought the visitors back in front. His header smacked the post, rolled across the face of goal and was just missed by the toes of Modeste's desperate attempts to push it over the line.
Hannover were looking the most dangerous side in the second period, as they attempted to build upon a strong first half. Unfortunately for them, however, the visiting defence was holding firm.
Firmino fired over and that was the only moment of respite for the Hoffenheim back-line for a period where Hannover laid siege to their goal. Shots rained down upon Baumann but, by good fortune, good keeping or poor finishing, they managed to repel the advances of their hosts.
It looked for all the world that Hannover would go on to nick a goal and win the game, but that wasn't to be the case. Sven Schipplock proved to be the super sub and his late header from Adam Szalai's pin-point pass sealed a vital win in their bid for Europe.
It was especially important to win given the losses of Augsburg and Schalke, though they face a tough task against Borussia Dortmund next weekend. Frontzeck will have been impressed with his side's performance, although that is scant consolation with a trip to Wolfsburg next weekend.