Schalke 04 defeated Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 to rebound from a turbulent two weeks between Bundesliga games on Friday.
When Schalke lost their second straight league contest on March 22, the club fired coach Fred Rutten and replaced him on an interim basis with Mike Buskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck.
The change apparently worked, as Schalke grabbed the away victory to jump one place in the table to seventh place with 40 points after 26 games, four points from a UEFA Cup spot.
PHOTO: AP
Jefferson Farfan struck first in the 45th minute and Kevin Kuranyi decided the game three minutes into injury-time.
Bielefeld, who have not scored at home in their last three games, remained in the middle of the relegation fight, 15th in the 18-team Bundeliga with 24 points, two ahead of Borussia Munchengladbach.
Schalke started stronger, but Bielefeld had chances on the counterattack. Both teams created chances in an entertaining first half, which ended with Schalke ahead after Farfan’s header from a left-wing cross by Christian Pander.
Schalke then missed a golden opportunity to double their lead a minute after the break when Kuranyi’s bullet header hit the crossbar.
Bielefeld were unable to create many chances in the second half, but Berat Sadik came closest with a header in the 89th minute.
Kuranyi struck the left upright just seconds later at the other end, but scored in injury-time on a counterattack.
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