Ex-Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi scored his 100th Bundesliga goal on Sunday in Schalke 04’s 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin, who put the Royal Blues third behind league leaders Leverkusen.
Kuranyi walked out on the Germany team in October last year leading to national coach Joachim Loew saying he will never select him again, but the 27-year-old forward has been in good form this season with seven goals in 14 league games.
Having made his debut for Stuttgart in 1997, Kuranyi went onto score 40 league goals before switching to Schalke and Sunday’s header was his 60th for his club.
PHOTO : REUTERS
Kuranyi profited from a header by Schalke’s Brazil defender Marcelo Bordon to power his own headed effort past Berlin’s goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny on 59 minutes.
Brazilian defender Rafinha then netted a penalty in injury time to seal the 2-0 win over the league’s bottom side.
Schalke are now third in the table as Felix Magath’s side closed the gap to three points behind the leaders and left them level with second-placed Werder Bremen.
PHOTO: EPA
“I am glad that the team managed to win this game,” Magath said. “The Berliners have improved and made life hard for us. I wanted to attack down the wings in the first half, but that didn’t really happen. We changed things at half-time and things worked better after the break.”
With almost 10 minutes remaining, Hertha’s Columbian striker Adrian Ramos wasted a golden chance to equalize when he fired over with the goal at his mercy.
Earlier, Werder Bremen squandered the chance to close the gap behind Leverkusen when they were held to a goalless draw by relegation-candidates Cologne.
Leverkusen also drew 0-0 with Hanover 96 on Saturday, but Thomas Schaaf’s Bremen are still three points off the leaders after failing to crack a resolute Cologne defense.
The single point takes Cologne away from the relegation zone and leaves them 14th.
Markus Babbel was sacked as coach of Stuttgart on Sunday after his side drew 1-1 with Bochum on Saturday, their eighth straight game without a win, with Christian Gross taking over.
Babbel was robbed of his first league win since September at home to Bochum on Saturday after Bochum’s Austria defender Christian Fuchs curled in a stunning late free-kick to equalize.
Several thousand Stuttgart fans then gathered outside the Mercedes-Benz Arena after the game, demanding Babbel’s resignation with their side third from bottom.
Several police officers were injured and a handful of arrests were made after angry scenes. Stuttgart must beat Romania’s Unirea Urziceni at home tomorrow to progress from Group G in the Champions League behind Sevilla.
German Bundesliga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 15 | 21 | 31 |
2 | Werder Bremen | 15 | 19 | 28 |
3 | Schalke 04 | 15 | 10 | 28 |
4 | Bayern Munich | 15 | 12 | 27 |
5 | Hamburg SV | 15 | 10 | 25 |
6 | Hoffenheim | 15 | 12 | 24 |
7 | Borussia Dortmund | 15 | 3 | 24 |
8 | VfL Wolfsburg | 15 | 2 | 23 |
9 | Mainz | 15 | 0 | 23 |
10 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 15 | -2 | 22 |
11 | Borussia M’gladbach | 15 | -6 | 18 |
12 | Hannover 96 | 15 | -3 | 17 |
13 | SC Freiburg | 15 | -13 | 17 |
14 | Cologne | 15 | -8 | 14 |
15 | VfL Bochum | 15 | -12 | 13 |
16 | VfB Stuttgart | 15 | -9 | 12 |
17 | Nuremberg | 15 | -13 | 12 |
18 | Hertha Berlin | 15 | -23 | 5 |
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