Schalke turned on the style to beat Augsburg 3-0 and ease any concerns of getting dragged into a relegation dogfight. Bobby Wood scored a late winner as Hamburg picked up a deserved win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.Hamburg 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
(Ekdal 36’, Wood 80’ – Christensen 22’)
Bobby Wood scored a late winner as Hamburg went level on points with Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg with a vital 2-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Andreas Christensen opened the scoring for Gladbach, who were without injured captain Lars Stindl, with a powerful header that nestled in the far corner after he out jumped Gideon Jung to meet a perfectly-weighted free-kick.
Hamburg thought they’d drawn level through Wood, but Albin Ekdal was in an offside position before the ball reached the American striker.
The home side soon drew level though Filip Kostic, whose towering header left Yann Sommer stranded in the Gladbach goal.
Hamburg enjoyed the better of the second half and were eventually rewarded with the winner, which came ten minutes from time. Wood showed great composure to sell Jannik Vestergaard a dummy and slam the ball into the roof of the net.
Schalke 3-0 Augsburg
(Burgstaller 4′, 29′, Caligiuri 34′)
Guido Burgstaller scored twice as Schalke picked up their first Bundesliga win in four against Augsburg.
Burgstaller, a January acquisition from Nuremberg, has now scored six goals since making the switch to the top flight, and his first was a tap-in at the far post after Thilo Kehrer flicked on Max Meyer’s corner.
Burgstaller grabbed his second with another tap-in, this time after good work by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Augsburg were awarded a debatable penalty when Germany defender Benedikt Höwedes was harshly penalized for a high foot, but Paul Verhaegh’s penalty was saved by Ralf Fährmann.
Schalke rounded off a good day’s work with the third before half time, courtesy of Daniel Caligiuri with his first Bundesliga goal for the Royal Blues, finishing from close range from Sead Kolasinac’s lofted cross.
Bundesliga Matchday 24 – as it happened:
