Goals from Max Meyer and Jefferson Farfan were enough for Schalke to see off a gutsy Eintracht Frankfurt, who are not quite safe from relegation.
The visitors enjoyed the better start, forcing a corner inside the opening minute.
Schalke grew into the game, but struggled to create any clear-cut chances in the opening twenty minutes.
Frankfurt continued to enjoy the better chances and forced a number of set-pieces in succession, but failed to capitalise and the hosts were able to clear their lines.
Schalke were dominating possession, and began to create a number of chances midway through the half. Julian Draxler fired a shot from just outside the box, but his effort flew high and wide.
The visitors continued to ask questions of Jens Keller’s side, and Stefan Aigner could have opened the scoring when a clearance found him in space behind the Schalke defence. However, he could not keep his lobbed effort down.
Schalke began to pile pressure on their guests’ goal, and Kevin Trapp was called into action twice within two minutes. First he had to be on his toes to get down to Draxler’s left-foot effort, before a wonderful reflex save from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s header kept the scores level.
However, it was Frankfurt who had the last chance of the half. The impressive Aigner was involved once again, crossing for Joselu who could not direct a header on target.
Half-time: 0-0
The hosts began the second half in dominant fashion, carving out a number of chances.
Draxler continued to threaten and dragged a left-footed shot just wide of Trapp’s goal, before slipping while one-on-one with the goalkeeper minutes later.
The opening goal finally arrived on the hour mark. Trapp made a magnificent double save from Sead Kolasinac and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but Schalke wonder-kid Max Meyer was on hand to poke the rebound home.
The goal gave the hosts added belief and they thought they had doubled their lead only minutes later. Draxler finally had the ball in the net following Leon Goretzka’s burst into the box, but he was denied by the linesman’s flag.
Frankfurt almost leveled the scored immediately afterwards, but Ralf Fährmann was on hand to deny Joselu.
The flurry of action continued when Draxler was hauled down in the box by Carlos Zambrano. Huntelaar stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick, but Trapp guessed correctly and pushed the ball away.
Chances continued to come for both sides, and Goretzka could have made the game safe for the hosts, crashing a shot off the crossbar, before Martin Lanig headed inches wide for the visitors.
However, Schalke finally finished Frankfurt off in injury time. Kaan Ayhan won a costless kick just outside the box, and Jefferson Farfan, on as a late substitute for Draxler, curled the ball into the top corner, leaving Trapp with no chance.
The result means that neither side moves up or down in the Bundesliga table. Schalke remain third, level on points with Borussia Dortmund but with inferior goal difference. Meanwhile, Armin Veh’s Frankfurt stay eleventh, eight points above the relegation zone.