Hannover slipped closer to the Bundesliga relegation zone as Sven Schipplock came off the bench to earn Hoffenheim a 2-1 victory.
It was the perfect start to the game for Hoffenheim, but the hosts were disappointed as Anthony Modeste had drifted into an offside position to collect a pass from Roberto Firmino before firing home in the opening minute.
However, Hannover responded to the early setback impressively, and they were gifted a penalty midway through the first half when Manuel Schmiedebach went down under a challenge from Tobias Strobl.
Lars Stindl accepted the responsibility from 12 yards and made no mistake as he fired past Oliver Baumann.
Hoffenheim could have taken a lead into the interval, but Tobias Strobl could only clip the post with his free kick.
Chances were difficult to come by in the second half, but Firmino should have done better when he struck a tame effort straight at Ron-Robert Zieler after finding space.
It was Hoffenheim who grew in confidence as the game entered the closing stages, and they were rewarded with the winning goal with seven minutes of normal time remaining.
Adam Szalai did well to earn space for himself before delivering a cross for Schipplock, who headed home from close range 10 minutes after being sent on by Markus Gisdol.
