FC Koln and Hannover both missed the chance to climb into the top half of the Bundesliga as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Hannover made the perfect start by taking the lead in just the fifth minute through Joselu, who was gifted space in the box to head home from Miiko Albornoz's cross.
The hosts responded well to falling behind and were soon back on level terms when Anthony Ujah's powerful header from Yuya Osako delivery left Ron-Robert Zieler helpless.
Koln dominated for long spells after equalising, but Zieler prevented the home side from taking the lead in the first half with a fine save to deny Ujah.
Peter Stoger's side continued to look the sharper after the interval and another big chance was wasted when Dominic Maroh somehow managed to slice an effort wide after Hannover had failed to clear a free kick.
Timo Horn was a spectator for much of the second half, but the Koln stopper did well to get a strong hand to Ceyhun Gulselam's free kick.
Hannover were dealt a blow late on when Joao Pereira was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Koln could not find a winner.
