Hoffenheim have moved one point adrift of the top four in the Bundesliga table after surviving a spirited fightback to beat Hannover 4-3 at Rhein-Neckar Arena.

The hosts raced out of the traps and could have gone ahead inside six minutes when Sven Schipplock cannoned a half-volley off the crossbar.

Hannover responded well to that early scare and should have opened the scoring through a Hoffenheim old boy, as Joselu capitalised on an error from Steven Zuber before racing through on goal and shooting wide of the mark.

The breakthrough came on 20 minutes when Pirmin Schwegler drilled a free kick through a poorly-constructed wall and beyond the furious Ron-Robert Zieler in goal.

Markus Gisdol's side continued to threaten in the final third and found a second on 37 minutes, as Kim Jin-su raced clear down the left-hand flank and played an inch-perfect pass for Kevin Volland to tap home at the far post.

Just when it looked like Hoffenheim were cruising, Lars Stindl threw the visitors a lifeline ahead of the second half by heading past Oliver Baumann to halve the deficit on 43 minutes.

Having missed the chance the punish his former club in the first half, Joselu then completed the comeback eight minutes after the restart by latching on to Jimmy Briand's pass across the face of goal to tap home.

Parity remained for just three minutes, however, as Eugen Polanski bent a fine effort beyond the stretching Zieler from outside the box, before Niklas Sule restored the two-goal cushion with a close-range header shortly after.

Tayfun Korkut's side then threatened another comeback after Stindl completed his brace to reduce the two-goal deficit on 86 minutes, but it proved a false dawn as the hosts held on to boost their Champions League prospects.