Schalke 04 3 : 1 Hoffenheim - Three and easy for Schalke

Posted Sunday, March 08, 2015 by PA

Schalke got back to winning ways after a four-game streak without one in style with a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim lifting them to fourth, at least for 24 hours.

Christian Fuchs gave Roberto Di Matteo's men the lead before Max Meyer grabbed a brace.

Kevin Volland pulled one back, but it was only a consolation for the visitors, who were unable to close in on the top six at the Arena AufSchalke.

Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol had rested several players for the midweek DFB-Pokal win at Aalen, but his side were back to full strength in Gelsenkirchen.

It was a good job too as they were faced with a fierce Schalke start to the game which saw Fuchs go close after just two minutes.

The Austrian went close twice again before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar missed the target with a goal seemingly in the air.

It arrived in the 12th minute and it was unsurprisingly Fuchs who provided it with a powerful shot into the bottom left-hand corner from Marco Hoger's cross.

Fuchs was on fire, but that turned out to be his downfall as, after picking up a yellow card, he was replaced by Di Matteo who was clearly concerned he may be warned again, Atsuto Uchida coming on for the full-back.

Accusations that Schalke have become too defensive under Di Matteo were defied by their increasingly attack-minded performance which brought them a second goal before the interval.

Meyer volleyed in their second (41) from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's delightful touch, giving them a deserved two-goal half-time lead.

Meyer got his second and Schalke's third eight minutes into the second half when the same combination for his first goal set him up once again to double his tally of goals for the entire first half of the season in the space of just over 10 minutes.

The Royal Blues then took their foot off the pedal and allowed Hoffenheim to pull a goal back through Volland, who finished off a quick counter-attack from the edge of the area with 17 left, but their lead never looked in any danger as they recovered from last week's defeat to Dortmund with all three points.