Werder Bremen remain in a precarious position at the bottom end of the Bundesliga table after only managing a 1-1 draw against Hannover at the Weser Stadion. Didier Ya Konan, who was only passed fit to play this morning, put Hannover in front in the 26th minute, but Per Mertesacker salvaged a point for Bremen with his goal five minutes into the second half.

Defeat would have seen Bremen fall into the bottom three, but the point was enough to take them above both Wolfsburg and Kaiserslautern into 14th position. Claudio Pizarro had the chance to put Bremen in front in the ninth minute, but his shot was straight at Ron-Robert Zieler, who made an instinctive save.

Bremen were appealing for a penalty in the 21st minute when Sebastian Prodl's header was cleared off the line by Manuel Schmiedebach, who appeared to have used his arm in blocking the shot. Five minutes later, Hannover went in front with their first major attack of the game. Ya Konan picked up Jan Schlaudraff's inviting pass in the centre and held off both Mertesacker and Mikael Silvestre before shooting into the far corner of Sebastian Mielitz's goal. 

The home side struggled to recover from the shock of going behind until Mertesacker made up for his error in leaving Ya Konan free for Hannover's goal by heading Bremen level. He showed great determination to leap high and head in from seven yards out after Aaron Hunt's free-kick looped up inside the penalty area.

Hannover could still have won it when Lars Stindl was sent through by Schlaudraff, but Mielitz reduced the angle and made a crucial save to keep Bremen on terms. Marko Arnautovic tried to invent something at the other end, but after reaching the goal line, his cross was deflected behind by Christian Schulz.

Marko Marin then sent a free-kick over the crossbar after Zieler was adjudged to have handled the ball outside the penalty area in the last minute, and that proved to be the last chance of the game.