Salif Sane's second-half strike inspired Hannover to a vital 1-0 victory against visitors Werder Bremen in order to push the club away from the foot of the Bundesliga table this afternoon.

Fin Bartels should have put the away side ahead in the opening minutes when he met a cross from Theodor Gebre Selassie, but he could only guide his shot wide from the centre of the box.

Selassie seemed in inspired form early on, and he came close to opening the scoring when he got a shot away from a tight angle, only to be denied cleverly by Hannover stopper Ron-Robert Zieler.

In a half just about shaded by the visiting side, Bremen were left unlucky not to take a lead into the break when Anthony Ujah saw his header come back off the crossbar after being picked out by Bartels on the wing.

Hannover bounced straight back after the break, and they were able to go in front thanks to Sane, who stole in to convert from a corner delivered by Hiroshi Kiyotake.

Bremen had not given up the fight, however, as they continued to press forward and they might have found a leveller had Maximilian Eggestein been able to head either side of Zieler with 15 minutes to play.

The visitors should have grabbed an equaliser late on too, although Jannik Vestergaard was unable to test the keeper with his header, leaving the game to end in Hannover's favour.