Berlin, March 29 (IANS) Schalke move on second of the table for now after they overcame Berlin with a comfortable 2-0 victory at the curtain raiser of the 28th round of the German Bundesliga Friday.
Schalke’s Chinedu Obasi and Klaas Jan Huntelaar cemented Berlin’s fourth straight loss. With the result the “Royal Blues” climb on second place with 54 points whilst Berlin stay on ninth place with 36 points, according to Xinhua.
The hosts caught a bright start as they pressed Berlin into the defence and created goal threatening opportunities. Schalke’s youngster Julian Draxler tested Berlin custodian Rune Jarstein before Kaan Ayhan rattled the woodwork with a free kick at the ninth minute.
Despite Schalke’s dominance, Berlin nearly capitalised on Ayhan’s moment of madness but Adrian Ramos pulled just wide with only goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann to beat at the 13th minute.
Schalke cut a better figure in front of Berlin danger zone as Chinedu Obasi controlled a long ball to dance through the defence, before he rounded Jarstein to break the deadlock into the far post corner at the 16th minute.
Aenis Ben Hatira came close to restore parity for the visitors but his attempt went just wide of the bar minutes before the interval.
Nonetheless, it were again the hosts that scored as Leon Goretzka passed into path of Dutchman Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who netted home from 16 metres into the far post corner, recording his 11th goal of the campaign.
Facing their fourth straight defeat, Berlin started a run on Schalke’s goal. However, their efforts remained unrewarded as the referee Guenter Perl denied Sebastian Langkamp’s header in the closing period owing to a supposed foul play inside the box.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: newly crowned champions Bayern Munich meet Hoffenheim, Dortmund visit struggling Stuttgart, Leverkusen host bottom side Braunschweig, Wolfsburg encounter Frankfurt, Mainz face Augsburg and Freiburg clash Nuremberg.
