Hannover 96 missed the jump to fourth place in the second Bundesliga.
In the top game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday evening, the hosts lost 3-1 (1-0) despite their opening goal.
With a win, the Lower Saxony could have ousted the strong climber from fourth place.
The Palatinate fought for success despite a few short-term staff shortages and expanded their away series.
In front of a crowd of 36,800 spectators ready for the first division, defender Derrick Köhn (17th minute) scored for the slightly superior hosts on the first second division matchday of the new year.
Julian Niehues (49th) equalized for the guests, who had improved in the second round.
Terrence Boyd (66th) then scored the opener for Kaiserslautern after some good preparatory work from the strong full-back Hendrick Zuck.
Substitute Philipp Hercher (90+7) increased just before the final whistle.
The climber from the Palatinate had to do without Philipp Klement and Nicolai Rapp for a short time.
On the other hand, 96 coach Stefan Leitl, who had been suspended in Kiel before the World Cup was interrupted, was absent.
Co-trainer Andre Mijatovic represented Leitl on the sidelines.
The substitute was annoyed about the duel behavior when they were behind: "You have to defend situations like 1: 2 better," said Mijatovic.
During the break before, he asked to continue playing "patiently".
"But the points unfortunately go to Kaiserslautern," he added.
"We actually wanted to start the second half with just as much energy," explained goalscorer Köhn: "But we didn't quite find each other.
And then we already conceded the goals.”