Schalke 04 are, at least temporarily, back in fourth place after defeating bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. A winter collapse saw the Königsblauen plunge from a Champions League place to the middle of the table in the Bundesliga, but they look to be all the way back from that skid after their 2-1 win over Der BVB.
Schalke vs. Borussia Dortmund: Final score 2-1, Königsblauen score massive derby win
A late Dortmund surge and an injury to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made things difficult for Schalke on Saturday, but they were able to hold on for a huge Revierderby victory.
Lars Baron
Julian Draxler netted the game's opening goal after just 12 minutes, finishing comfortably from 12 yards out on a square ball by fullback Astuto Uchida. The home side continued to pressure Dortmund and stunned them by scoring a second goal in the 35th minute, via another Uchida cross, this time tapped in by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Unfortunately for Schalke, their star striker suffered and injury in the second half. The severity Huntelaar’s injury is unknown, but given that he had to be taken off on a stretcher, it would be shocking to see him return mid-week for Schalke’s Champions League encounter with Galatasaray.
Schalke looked a bit shocked by Huntelaar’s injury and were caught out five minutes after he was subbed off, by Robert Lewandowski. His countryman Jakub Blaszczykowski found him with a through ball, and Lewandowski held off his defender before placing a shot past Timo Hildebrand in the 59th minute.
Dortmund looked the more dangerous side from then on out, though they nearly gave up a clinching third goal on a couple of occasions. With the visitors aggressively throwing men forward, there was space for Schalke to counter into, though they never quite took advantage. The home side came closest to netting a third goal in the 84th minute, when Teemu Pukki failed to get on the end of a great ball towards the back post from Jefferson Farfan.
Lewandowski just about fired Dortmund to a point in the 88th minute, but his close-range effort was saved brilliantly by Hildebrand. That was BVB’s best chance to equalize in the dying minutes, and Schalke held on through stoppage time.
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