Serdar scores as Schalke claim narrow victory over Augsburg
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BERLIN: Suat Serdar celebrated his 24th birthday by scoring his first Bundesliga goal of the season as basement side Schalke 04 snapped a 12-game winless run to beat Augsburg 1-0 at the Veltins Arena on Sunday.
Having failed to score in their past five home games, Schalke broke the deadlock inside four minutes when Germany midfielder Serdar slotted home from close range after Augsburg goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz failed to collect a low cross.
Augsburg threatened to equalise through forwards Marco Richter and Ruben Vargas but a disciplined Schalke defence held on to claim only their second league win of the campaign.
With six games remaining, Schalke still have work to do if they are to survive the drop as they remain 13 points adrift of the safety zone.
Meanwhile, Augsburg are yet to secure their top-flight status and sit 11th with a six-point cushion over the relegation playoff spot.
Leandro Barreiro’s stunning stoppage-time winner earned Mainz 05 crucial three points in the relegation battle as they came from behind in the second half to beat Cologne 3-2 at the Rhein Energie stadium.
The result lifted Mainz up to 14th in the table, five points clear of 17th-placed Cologne in the automatic relegation spot.
Cologne remain three points off Arminia Bielefeld in the playoff position.
Mainz took the lead in the 11th with Jean-Paul Boetius’ shot going in off the crossbar before Cologne responded with Ondrej Duda scoring from the penalty spot in the 43rd after Phillipp Mwene handled the ball. Cologne led for four minutes with a header from Ellyes Skhiri in the 61st before a swift reply from Mainz on the counterattack with Boetius crossing low for Karim Onisiwo to tap the ball in at the far post.
Just as it began to look as if Mainz would settle for a 2-2 draw, their counterattacking skill cut the Cologne defense open again. Moussa Niakhate dribbled through the center and played in Mwene on the left. He squared for Barreiro to hit a low shot from the edge of the box which slid inside the post.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2021
