Leon Goretzka scored late for Schalke 04 to somehow beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 on Friday and leapfrog the visitors into fourth place in the Bundesliga.
Goretzka struck with a deflected shot in the 83rd minute, four minutes after Andreas Christensen had equalized with his side’s 18th effort on goal.
Schalke took the lead against the run of play through Martin Hinteregger’s own-goal in the 58th minute. Leroy Sane dispossessed Havard Nordtveit, eluded Christensen and crossed the ball. It ricocheted from Hinteregger to Nordtveit, back to Hinteregger and into the net.
Photo: EPA
Schalke had goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann to thank for a string of saves.
“Ralf Faehrmann did very well, it’s true, but there’s no way we should have lost the game,” Moenchengladbach’s Yann Sommer said of his counterpart. “It wasn’t to be.”
Schalke moved to 44 points in the last qualification spot for the Champions League, two points ahead of Moenchengladbach. Both sides have seven games remaining.
Photo: AP
Max Meyer had Schalke’s first real chance, but Sommer was equal to it in the 37th minute. Faehrmann, who had twice denied Raffael, saved Lars Stindl’s effort from the resulting counterattack and produced a point-blank block to thwart Stindl again.
Thorgan Hazard called the Schalke goalkeeper into action again after the interval, while the visitors were left to rue missed chances when Schalke went ahead through Hinteregger’s own-goal.
The home side had not had a single shot on goal in the second half.
Moenchengladbach went near when Mahmoud Dahoud struck the crossbar in response, but finally reaped their reward with 10 minutes remaining when Christensen equalized after combining with Stindl.
However, Goretzka scored what proved to be the winner with Schalke’s first effort of the second half, with a deflection off Granit Xhaka’s shoulder and in off the left post.
There was still time for Faehrmann to deny the visitors again and for Raffael to hit the post.
“We played a great game, especially in the first half,” said Moenchengladbach coach Andre Schubert, whose side had 22 goal attempts compared with the home side’s six.
“With the chances we had, [the result] is quite curious... We were very unlucky,” he said.
LA LIGA
AP, MADRID
Borja Baston scored late to give Sociedad Deportiva Eibar a point in a 1-1 draw against Getafe in La Liga action on Friday.
Getafe took an early lead when defender Emiliano Velazquez headed in a free-kick by Pablo Sarabia in the seventh minute.
Getafe, who are just above the relegation zone, held on until the 87th minute when Baston tapped in an accurate pass from Japan midfielder Takashi Inui.
Inui had charged up the left flank, entered the penalty area and delivered a perfect ball for Baston to push into the net with his heel.
Eibar were provisionally eighth on 38 points, 10 ahead of Getafe.
Barcelona, who are to play Villarreal today, led the standings on 75 points.
In other games today, Granada face Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, Real Sociedad are to play UD Las Palmas, RC Deportivo de La Coruna take on Levante UD, Real Betis Balompie face Malaga and RCD Espanyol are to play Athletic Bilbao.
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