On the up after beating Koln 2-1 heading into the international break, Hamburg took advantage of their opponents’ poor form to carve out an early lead.
Albert Sambi Lokonga’s long free-kick was brought down by Nicolas Capaldo, whose shot bobbled onto the far post, but Yussuf Poulsen was in the perfect spot to prod the rebound home - the first time the Dane has scored in consecutive league games since December 2023.
Hoffenheim responded by dominating the rest of the half, though it wasn’t until stoppage time that they really started to cause trouble.
Hamburg were given a reprieve when Bambase Conte shot under Daniel Heuer Fernandes but had the goal ruled out due to Tim Lemperle’s foul on Warmed Omari in the build-up.
However, in the sixth minute of added time, Heuer Fernandes saved Lemperle’s header, but the threat from Fisnik Asllani on the rebound was such that Sebastiaan Bornauw had no choice but to intervene and, in doing so, bundled into his own net.
And the hosts picked up where they left off after the restart, soon going ahead thanks to a moment of brilliance.
Conte took it from Asllani and bore down on goal, turning past Sambi Lokonga and pulling a shot in off the near post - his first Bundesliga goal coming in the wake of earning a trio of Germany caps over the last few weeks.
In control and having turned things around, the last thing Hoffenheim needed was Bernardo seeing a second yellow card for a late challenge on David Moller Wolfe, giving the visitors a boost into the final 25 minutes.
Predictably, that led to some joy for Hamburg, and they were unfortunate that Otto Stange was denied his first top-flight goal due to a handball, but there was still a late rally from the visitors to turn it around again.
Terem Moffi leapt above Ozan Kabak to meet Miro Muheim’s cross and powered an equaliser into the net, but it wasn’t until deep into stoppage time that all was said and done.
Hoffenheim failed to clear further than Muheim, who kept his eye on the looping ball and hit a superb volley into the bottom corner to hand his side the three points.