BERLIN: Schalke 04 earned their fourth win in their last five Bundesliga games with a 2-0 victory over visitors Hamburg SV on Sunday that sent them into second place in the table.

A 17th-minute penalty from Franco Di Santo and Guido Burg­staller’s 78th minute goal saw Schalke move on to 23 points, ahead of third-placed RB Leipzig on goal difference. Both sides trail Bayern Munich by six points after 12 rounds.

Under 32-year-old head coach Domenico Tedesco, Schalke are unbeaten in seven games dating back to September. “The table isn’t that important after 12 match days. We’re not concerned with it. It’s very tight at the top,” said Tedesco, whose side next face Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr derby.

Hamburg’s Gideon Jung gave away the spot kick with a clumsy challenge on Yevhen Konoplyanka and Di Santo converted for his first league goal since March 2016.

The visitors pushed hard for an equalizer and went closest before the hour-mark, when Aaron Hunt struck the post after being brillia­ntly played through by the 17-year-old Jann-Fiete Arp. Hamburg’s hopes of an equaliser were effectively ended when Konoplyanka set up Burgstaller to seal it with around 10 minutes remaining.

“It’s a great moment for the whole team, we have worked really heard in the last few weeks,” said Schalke midfielder Max Meyer. “We are just taking it one game at a time. We won’t be favourites in Dortmund and it’ll be a 50-50 game.”

Germany striker Max Kruse netted a hat-trick as Werder Bremen picked up their first win of the season in emphatic style with a 4-0 thrashing of mid-table Hanover 96.

Werder, whose previous league win dates back to April 29, moved up to 16th and into the relegation playoff spot.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017