Schalke 04 closed in on a place in the Champions League and pushed Hamburg SV toward the Bundesliga relegation zone with a 3-1 win on Sunday.
Werder Bremen thumped Hannover 96 3-0 in the day’s other game, with Claudio Pizarro, Sebastian Proedl and Markus Rosenberg sharing the goals.
Schalke’s win kept them fourth, which would earn a place in the Champions League qualifying round next season, and moved them within one point of third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach and a potential place in the group stages.
Hamburg, who have won only twice in eight outings since the winter break, are 14th with 27 points, only three points ahead of Hertha BSC Berlin in the relegation playoff spot.
EARLY GOALS
Schalke effectively wrapped up victory by scoring three times in the opening half an hour.
Teemu Pukki headed in on five minutes after Atsuto Uchida pulled the ball back from the byline while Hamburg’s defenders stood and watched.
Christoph Melder fired in a close-range shot from a corner in the 26th minute, before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar won and converted a penalty after 33 minutes, the Dutchman’s 19th Bundesliga goal of the season.
Gojko Kacar pulled one back just before halftime, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.
“Hamburg played better than us, but we took our chances,” Schalke head coach Huub Stevens said.
“We can’t afford to defend like that,” Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink said.
HANNOVER HUMBLED
Hannover had the better of the opening stages against Bremen until Peru international striker Pizarro swept home from close range following a set-piece for his 16th goal of the season.
Proedl headed in the second four minutes after the restart and Pizarro set up the third for Rosenberg just before the hour.
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