Hamburger SV climbed five points clear of the Bundesliga relegation zone courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Hannover this evening.
A Marcelo own goal and Marcell Jansen strike gave the hosts a two-goal advantage at the Imtech Arena and they hung on despite Artur Sobiech's second-half reply.
It was Hannover who made the brighter start as Lars Stindl forced Jaroslav Drobny into a good early save.
The visitors had an even better chance to take the lead when former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Rafael van der Vaart fouled Hiroshi Kiyotake in the box.
However, Drobny guessed right to keep out Joselu's 23rd-minute penalty, and Hannover might have been thinking that it wasn't their day when Marcelo freakishly looped the ball over Ron-Robert Zieler and into his own net from 15 yards when trying to block a cross.
Zieler could do little about Hamburg's second either as Nicolai Muller set up Jansen for his second of the season via a wicked deflection.
Marcelo Diaz nearly put the game beyond doubt with a 57th-minute free kick which narrowly missed the left post, but Hannover came back into the match as Marcelo headed against the bar from a set piece.
They pulled one back on 67 minutes when substitute Sobiech headed in a rebound from inside the six-yard box, only three minutes after his introduction from the bench.
Tayfun Korkut's side pushed for an equaliser and Drobny had to save from Joselu and Stindl to secure Hamburg a victory which sees them climb four places to 11th in the table, just two points behind Hannover.
Joe Fish
