Harit fires Schalke past Augsburg in five-goal thriller

Augsburg 2-3 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Baier (38'), 1-1 Lichtsteiner o.g. (45+1'), 2-1 Finnbogason (60'), 2-2 Kabak (72'), 2-3 Harit (82')

The visitors were rocked by Salif Sane being stretchered off inside 10 minutes, forcing coach David Wagner to move Weston McKennie - recalled to the starting lineup after missing the last two matches - into centre-half. Die Fuggerstädter started excellently and Alexander Nübel was forced into producing a fine save off his head to deny Florian Niederlechner. They soon had the lead, Daniel Baier stroking home the opener with his first Bundesliga goal in over three years. That goal sparked Schalke into life and Die Knappen were level just before half time, Stephan Lichtsteiner unlucky to head Daniel Caligiuri's menacing free-kick beyond his own 'keeper.

Matchday 10's final fixture offered an incentive for both sides in pursuit of victory after the break. A win for the hosts would move Augsburg out of the relegation play-off places, while Schalke could leap as high as fourth. And it was Augsburg who made the first move, awarded a penalty on the hour mark that Alfred Finnbogason stepped up and coolly converted. But another superb Caligiuri set-piece again helped Schalke level again, this time Ozan Kabak meeting the 31-year-old's free-kick and nodding home his first goal for the club. And with just eight minutes to play, Harit pounced on Reece Oxford's misplaced backpass before weaving beyond two defenders and firing home to turn the game around send Schalke level on points with RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Freiburg.

• Baier's last goal for Augsburg came in this fixture back on October 15, 2016 in a 1-1 draw against Schalke on this very ground. In fact, each of his last three goals have all come against the Royal Blues.
• Augsburg have won just one of their 17 Bundesliga matches against Schalke and have in fact won a greater proportion of matches against Bayern (12 per cent) than against the Royal Blues (six per cent).
• Finnbogason has now taken nine Bundesliga penalties and scored all nine of them. This was also his first Bundesliga goal against Schalke.
• Harit had a hand in six goals in three games as he was named September Player of the Month, but failed to register any in October and had gone three games without a goal until his winner.
• Ozan Kabak scored his first goal for Schalke in the Bundesliga in his first start for the club since joining from VfB Stuttgart in the summer.
• Schalke are unbeaten in their last eight league encounters with Augsburg (W4, D4), which is currently their best run against any team. The Gelsenkirchen club have lost just one of their nine Bundesliga visits to the WWK Arena (2-1 in December 2015 - W3, D5).

Watch: Harit: "It was a nice goal, I think"

Augsburg: Koubek – Lichtsteiner, Jedvaj, Uduokhai, Max – Richter (Oxford 68'), Khedira, Baier (c) (Gregoritsch 85'), Vargas – Finnbogason, Niederlechner (Iago 78')
Unused subs: Luthe, Gouwleeuw, Cordova, Moravek, Hahn, Framberger
Out: Götze (hip), Gruezo (ankle), Jensen (unconfirmed), Oxford (illness), Pedersen (knock), Suchy (match fitness)
Coach: Martin Schmidt

Schalke: Nübel (c) – Kenny, Kabak, Sane (Caligiuri 9'), Oczipka – Serdar, Mascarell, McKennie – Harit, Uth (Burgstaller 85'), Raman (Schöpf 75')
Unused subs: Schubert, Matondo, Kutucu, Boujellab, Reese, Marcan
Out: Bentaleb (groin), Stambouli (foot)
Coach: David Wagner

Watch: McKennie: "You could see my midfield tendencies"