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Schalke beat Monchengladbach 1-0 in German Bundesliga

Xinhua, February 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Schalke overcame Monchengladbach 1-0 thanks to Tranquillo Barnetta's early winner at the curtain raiser of the 20th round in the German Bundesliga on Friday.

Schalke underlined their UEFA Champions League aspirations as the "Royal Blues" earned vital points against rivals Monchengladbach to move on the third place of the standings. Barnetta's early goal was enough to secure Schalke the 10th victory of the season and Monchengladbach's first loss in 2015.

From the kick-off Schalke left no doubt that they wanted to deny Monchengladbach the third straight win after the restart of the second half of the season. Robert Di Matteo's men defended deep and lurked for counter attacks meanwhile offensively minded Monchengladbach were in search for a deep ball to overcome Schalke's bulwark.

However, it were the hosts who were successful with their strategy as Jan Kirchhoff intercepted a build up play by Monchengladbach's Raffael, allowing Kevin Boateng to cross the ball from the right wing into the penalty area where Barnetta broke the deadlock at the near post with just 11 minutes into the game at his 250th Bundesliga appearance.

Monchengladbach lacked in ideas and were unable to level the scores within the break. After the restart the "Foals" piled on the pressure to work out their first chance at the 65th minute. Monchengladbach's defender Roel Brouwers chipped the ball into the path of substitute Ibrahima Traore, who saw his effort saved by youngster goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther.

Monchengladbach pressed frenetically against Schalke's bulwark but all their offensive actions remained fruitless, as the hosts were able to protect their narrow 1-0 lead to the end.

With the result, Schalke jumped from the sixth place to the third position meanwhile Monchengladbach slipped from the third to the fourth position.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: relegation threatened Stuttgart face front-runners Bayern Munich, second placed Wolfsburg host Hoffenheim, Mainz see Berlin, Freiburg encounter last placed Dortmund, newly promoted Cologne clash against newly promoted Paderborn and Hamburg meet Hannover. Endi