Hannover relegated, Gladbach boost Champions League hopes
Hannover was relegated from the Bundesliga despite not playing on Sunday as Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind to beat Mainz 2-1 and end its last hopes of clinching a playoff place.
Anis Ben-Hatira forced Frankfurt's winner in the 84th minute, when his cross was deflected into the net off the back of Mainz defender Stefan Bell.
The win lifted second-from-bottom Frankfurt to 30 points, one behind Werder Bremen in the relegation playoff place, with Hannover nine points behind Bremen with three games remaining. As Frankfurt and Bremen meet on the last day of the season, with three points going to one of the teams or one each in the event of a draw, every permutation puts the playoff out of Hannover's reach.
After 14 years in the Bundesliga, it was Hannover's fifth drop from the top flight after two relegations in both the 1980s and 1970s.
The club had fired Thomas Schaaf as coach in a late bid for survival on April 3 after his run of 10 defeats in 11 games. Successor Daniel Stendel stayed unbeaten in the three games since but it was too little, too late.
"Our fate was clear for two or three weeks," Hannover general manager Martin Bader said. "The likelihood that a miracle could happen was at most one or two percent."
Mainz defender Daniel Brosinski opened the scoring with a perfect free kick in the 18th minute -- the only highlight in a scrappy first half -- 10 minutes before Marco Russ scrambled in the equalizer.
Frankfurt pushed hard after the break, with Ben-Hatira going close and then Loris Karius producing a fine reflex save to deny Haris Seferovic, before Ben-Hatira finally gave Frankfurt a lifeline and sealed Hannover's fate.
"We put in an enormous effort and were finally rewarded for once. It would have been disastrous if we'd only taken a point from the game. Now we are all full of hope again that we've turned the tide," Frankfurt chairman Heribert Bruchhagen said.
Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac said afterward that midfielder Stefan Aigner was taken to hospital with concussion after a clash of heads with Mainz' Giulio Donati in the second minute. Aigner was taken off in the 24th.
Earlier, promising midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud scored one goal and set up another Sunday as Borussia Moenchengladbach boosted its Champions League qualification hopes with a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
Gladbach got off to a great start with Oscar Wendt forcing an own goal from Jeremy Toljan in the seventh minute. Andre Hahn was behind the Hoffenheim defender and would have converted the cross from Wendt, whose run was picked out by Granit Xhaka.
The 20-year-old Dahoud made it 2-0 before the break, minutes after Hahn struck the post. Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was unable to hold onto Raffael's effort and Hahn pounced to set up Dahoud for a tap-in. Baumann complained Hahn kicked the ball out of his hands but the goal stood.
Andrej Kramaric pulled one back in the 54th after playing a one-two with Kevin Volland, but Dahoud won the ball off Tobias Strobl and set up Hahn to seal it nine minutes later.
Gladbach moved one point behind Hertha Berlin, which occupies the last Champions League qualification spot.
"We have 48 points and are in a wonderful position. Now we have three games' time to finish it," said sporting director Max Eberl, whose side bounced back from two successive defeats. "The team showed a great reaction."
Hoffenheim remained three points above Bremen with three games remaining.
Bayern Munich, seven points clear of Borussia Dortmund, can clinch the title next weekend with a win at home against Gladbach.
