Schalke took an early two-goal lead through Joel Matip and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, before Pieree-Emerick Aubameyang replied immediately. Despite BVB dominating the second-half, they couldn't find a way through the hosts' back-line and they fell to defeat against their bitter rivals.
Schalke have a huge bout of injuries to contend with coming into the game. Sead Kolasinac, Felipe Santana, Benedikt Höwedes, Fabian Giefer, Leon Goretzka and Jefferson Farfán were all unable to play with various injury problems, which is part of the reason why Jens Keller's men have under-performed so much this season. Wunderkind Julian Draxler was also unavailable after he picked up a two game ban, for kicking out at Carlos Zambrano, against Eintracht Frankfurt. However, Kevin-Prince Boateng made a return to the team. The Ghana midfielder also saw red against Frankfurt and replaced Christian Fuchs, with Joel Matip taking young Kaan Ayhan's spot.
Borussia Dortmund had similar injury woes to their Ruhr valley neighbours. Ilkay Gündogan, Sebastian Kehl, Marco Reus, Oliver Kirch, Nuri Sahin, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jakub Blaszczykowski would play no part this afternoon, with Klopp not seeing any end to the year of relentless injuries. Mats Hummels returned to start for BVB, a massive boost to the side. Hummels' return was one of four changes for the vistors: Milos Jojic, Shinji Kagawa and Marcel Schmelzer all made way for Matthias Ginter, Adrian Ramos and Erik Durm.
The game got off to a terrible start for Dortmund, as Lukas Piszczek took and elbow to the face and required lengthy treatment on the sidelines. Schalke took advantage of the dazed defender, as Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Sidney Sam immediately ran at the Pole. The latter tied him in knots, before earning a corner. Dennis Aogo took the resulting set-piece and picked out a completely unmarked Joel Matip. Choupo-Moting's fellow countryman made absolutely no mistake with the resulting header and thundered it past a helpless Roman Weidenfeller.
Dortmund tried to hit back instantly and very nearly did. A long ball forward from Mats Hummels was brilliantly chested down by Ciro Immobile. The Italian's touch found Kevin Großkreutz, but his shot was deflected off target. Despite some BVB pressure, it was Schalke who would score yet again. After Choupo-Moting won the initial corner, Aogo swung it in with pace and found a costless Matip again. He had his header excellently saved by Weidenfeller, but Adrian Ramos hacked his clearance back into the box and and after a few bobbles it fell perfectly for Choupo-Moting to volley home. A beautiful hooked finish, that had power and placement in abundance, left the visitors shell-shocked.
However, Ramos quickly atoned for his earlier error. The Columbian broke costless down the right and burst into the pace, using his blistering pace he had time to pick out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese forward struck a powerful volley into the ground that shot past Ralf Fährmann and gave BVB some hope of pulling back a 2-0 deficit for the second time in a week. Further chances fell the way of both sides in the first half. Both goalkeepers had to be on their toes to stop any further additions to the score sheets, as Piszczek's cross was excellently dealt with by Fährmann.
Borussia Dortmund almost had the perfect start to second half, as Immobile tested Fährmann from the off. The Italian attacker picked up a lose ball, turned and hit a 25-yard strike arrowing towards the bottom corner, only for Schalke's custodian to claw it away. The home side issued an immediate response, as Piszczek misjudged a long ball and let Max Meyer in behind the defence. His cross was cleared, but only to Choupo-Moting, but he could only screw his shot wide of the target.
Shinji Kagawa then made an appearance off of the bench as he replaced an unlucky Immobile, who just couldn't find the net despite all the will in the world. The Japanese play-maker made an immediate impact, as Dortmund looked much more threatening. He won the costless-kick that Aubameyang almost sealed his brace with, but for Fährmann to pull of an equally impressive save. BVB looked to have found a way back into the game when Matip clattered into Ramos in full-flight, only for their appeals to be waved away by Peter Gagelmann.
The visitors continued to press for an equaliser, yet they just could not force the ball home. When Fährmann misjudged the flight of a costless-kick and the ball almost fell to Matthias Ginter for a simple tap in, Schalke eventually managed to scramble the ball clear. The arrival of Kaan Ayhan off the bench seemed to signal that Jens Keller was happy with the state of play, but it invited yet more pressure from Borussia Dortmund.
BVB threw the proverbial kitchen sink and more at the Schalke defence yet it just would not budge. Adrian Ramos had two late chances after Shinji Kagawa had slipped him in, only for Ralf Fährmann to scramble and take the ball off of his toes. Klass-Jan Huntelaar almost put the game beyond doubt and slipped it through Roman Weidenfeller's legs, but he recovered well and turned it around the post.
The win meant Schalke leapfrogged their bitter rivals and jumped into seventh place and earned their eighth point of the season. BVB continued their inconsistencies and remain without a win after victory against Arsenal. They'll have to turn things around quickly before their game against Anderlecht on Wednesday, already sitting seven points behind table-toppers Bayern Munich.