Bundesliga Week 27, Sunday Wrap: Schalke, Hannover Win Big

The race for fourth place in the Bundesliga no longer looks like it’s going to be interesting. Schalke appeared to start a collapse a couple of weeks ago while Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen started a charge, but things went perfectly for the Royal Blues this week. Bayer and Werder both lost Saturday and Schalke won big on Sunday. Hannover also won, and they’re just four points behind Werder’s Europa League place.

This is about the most typical Schalke game ever. They gave up a third-minute set-piece goal to Rodnei with some atrocious marking, but put together a great comeback. Lewis Holtby equalized in the 39th minute before Klass-Jan Huntelaar scored what would eventually be the winner just before halftime. Raul added a third with a stunning finish in the 51st minute and Jefferson Farfan completed the rout late.

Up until the 60th minute of this game, Cologne were the better team. Then they fell apart. Hannover netted the opener in the 19th minute through Lars Stindl, but Cologne did well to get level just before halftime with a Kevin Pezzoni goal on a corner. They looked good in the first 15 minutes of the second half before giving away a 61st minute penalty, which was converted by Jan Schlaudraff. At that point, they fell apart, and Mame Diouf netted twice after that to turn a close game into a beating.