FC Schalke 04 returned to Bundesliga action in sensational style with a 5-4 victory against Hannover 96 that lifted them fifth ahead of the rest of the weekend's action.

Jefferson Farfán gave the hosts the lead in a first half that did little to suggest the drama that would follow after the interval. Having been 2-0 and 4-2 behind after the break, Hannover levelled at 2-2 and then pulled the game back to 4-3 before the Gelsenkirchen side put the contest to bed.

Julian Draxler swept in Lewis Holtby's pass after 49 minutes for Schalke's second but within ten minutes parity had been restored through Sergio da Silva Pinto's deflected effort and Szabolcs Huszti's drive. Marco Höger (64) exchanged passes with Holtby before making it 3-2 and Ciprian Marica (67) appeared to have settled matters.

However, Huszti's stunning volley within a minute cast the result in doubt and the visitors remained dangerous until Holtby (88) tapped in on the counterattack to seal the victory. There was still time for a spectacular overhead kick by Mame Diouf to complete the scoring.