Schalke suffered a shock 3-1 home defeat to relegation threatened Werder Bremen thanks to a vintage performance from Clemens Fritz.

The hosts started the game in 6th place, and knew a win would see them head above Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach into 4th place. 

The visitors, meanwhile, were looking to widen the gap of one point between themselves and Hoffenheim in 17th.

Setting the pace

Schalke started the game by far the better team, and after a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar shot was deflected for a corner, Joel Matip rose and headed the resulting Johannes Geis set piece into the net. This was the fastest goal for S04 by some distance, with the previous record being a 17th minute goal.

They benefited from the early goal, controlling the ball for large spells and moving the ball through Leroy Sane, who saw his 18th minute effort tipped behind after he had missed the target from similar range two minutes prior.

A battle between two Bundesliga mainstays | Photo: @liga_scorer
A battle between two Bundesliga mainstays | Photo: @liga_scorer

Schalke should have doubled their lead in the 28th minute when Max Meyer directed a ball in behind towards Huntelaar,and the Dutchman sold his marker well before clipping his effort onto the bar.

Six minutes later, Huntelaar had another huge chance as he found himself through on goal with Felix Wiedald, but he blazed over from all of 15 yards.

A change in fortune

The visitors got themselves level just before the break as Clemens Fritz scored his first goal in over 1,600 days and 115 games. The midfielder sent a curling shot from outside the area towards goal and it beat Ralf Fährmann, giving Fritz a goal in his 300th Bundesliga appearance.

Clemens Fritz was again the manufacturer of success for Werder as they took the lead nine minutes after the break. He found space to send the ball across from the right side where Claudio Pizarro was waiting to tap home and make it 1-2 in favour of Bremen.

Schalke struggled to create the necessary chances to get back into the game, though they almost drew level with ten minutes to go as Junior Caicara sent a tempting cross over yet nobody was there to stab home.

Werder secured the three points in the dying seconds as Anthony Ujah got across to meet yet another Fritz cross, heading home from close range and sending the travelling army into raptures.

Despite having 60% of possession and recording 12 corners (to one of SVW), Schalke had been beaten somewhat comfortably by an opponent they were expecting to beat. They stayed sixth as a result, while Werder gave themselves some breathing room away from the bottom two with a crucial win.

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