BERLIN: A solitary goal credited to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gave Schalke 04 a welcome 1-0 win against struggling Hoffenheim in their final Bundesliga outing of the year on Friday.
The Gelsenkirchen club had managed just one victory in their previous seven outings to put pressure on coach Andre Breitenreiter but Cameroon forward Choupo-Moting struck in the 28th minute to give Schalke the lead they deserved on the basis of their first-half display.
Johannes Geis sent in a cross from the right towards the far post and it was not entirely clear whether the decisive touch came off Choupo-Moting or Hoffenheim’s Czech defender Pavel Kaderabek.
Before that Leon Goretzka had fired narrowly wide and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar forced a save out of Oliver Baumann, and while Hoffenheim improved after the break, they rarely looked like equalising, although Eduardo Vargas sent a shot just over.
Schalke move up to fourth before the rest of the weekend’s games, although they are just three points better off than eighth-placed Mainz.
Meanwhile, Huub Stevens’ Hoffenheim remain in the relegation zone, a point from safety.
League leaders Bayern Munich go to Hanover 96 on Saturday on the final weekend of games before the Bundesliga shuts down for the winter, returning on January 22.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund make the short trip to Cologne on Saturday while Hertha Berlin in third host Mainz on Sunday.--AFP