Tranquillo Barnetta scored the only goal as Schalke 04 beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 on Friday to move into the top three in the German Bundesliga for the first time this season.
Schalke shrugged off the absence of suspended Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to add to their 1-0 win over Hannover 96 and 1-1 draw with champions Bayern Munich since the resumption following the winter break.
They have 34 points and are four points behind second-placed VfL Wolfsburg, although Roberto di Matteo’s Schalke have played a game more.
Photo: AFP
Schalke opened the scoring in the 11th minute when a perfectly-timed cross from Kevin-Prince Boateng found Swiss star Barnetta at the near post to score with his left foot.
The 29-year-old now has 29 goals in 250 Bundesliga matches.
Friday’s game started 10 minutes late after a bomb threat, although security forces said “there was no proof of a specific threat.”
FRENCH LIGUE 1
Fourth-place AS Saint-Etienne failed to win for a fourth straight game in the French Ligue 1 and needed a late goal from striker Mevlut Erding to draw 3-3 against struggling Racing Club de Lens on Friday.
Midfielder Landry N’Guemo gave Saint-Etienne the lead early on and the home side appeared to be coasting when winger Yohan Mollo made it 2-0 in the 58th minute.
However, Lens, who remain in 19th place, hit back as forward Yoann Touzghar scored twice and strike partner Pablo Chavarria made it 3-2 to the visitors after 77 minutes.
Erding, recently criticized by coach Christophe Galtier after a lackluster performance in a loss to Paris Saint-Germain, struck in the 83rd with his first goal since Aug. 17 last year.
AS Monaco can move into fourth place if they win at En Avant de Guingamp today.
SPANISH LA LIGA
Two bad defensive errors by Sociedad Deportiva Eibar gifted a 2-0 win to RC Deportivo de La Coruna in the Spanish La Liga on Friday.
Lucas Perez scored his third goal of the season after Eibar goalkeeper Xabi Irureta raced forward to the edge of the penalty area and parried Oriol Riera’s shot straight to him in the 52nd minute.
Ivan Neves reacted quickly and sprinted forward to follow Borja Ekiza’s lazy back-pass and skilfully stole the ball off Irureta for his third league goal in the 80th minute.
Deportivo moved up to 11th place on 24 points while Eibar stayed eighth on 27.
“We came to defend because we knew they would take the initiative and we held firm throughout the first half,” Ekiza said. “We knew we had to deploy ourselves a bit more and combine passes, but then came the first goal and we were unlucky to concede another.”
Real Madrid were top on 54 points after 22 rounds ahead of their derby clash with Atletico Madrid yesterday. Barcelona lie in second on 50, but travel to Athletic Bilbao today.
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