Bundesliga
Wilfried Kanga struck in the final minutes to earn Hertha Berlin a first home win of the season and condemned Schalke to bottom spot in the Bundesliga table.
Hertha Berlin 2-1 Schalke
Goal: 1-0 Tousart 49’, 1-1 Mollet 85' (assist: Polter), 2-1 Kanga 88' (assist: Jovetic)
Having fallen to the bottom of the table by the time this game kicked off in Berlin, Schalke – in their first game since the dismissal of head coach Frank Kramer – were under even more pressure in this relegation six-pointer against 15th-placed Hertha. Nevertheless, both sides played with freedom in the opening stages, with three attempts on goal each in the first 14 minutes. The seventh and best of the lot looked to have given the Royal Blues the advantage as Marius Bülter pinged a volley with the inside of his right boot into the far top corner. However, the potential Goal of the Month contender was chalked off on review due to offside in the build-up. The former Union Berlin striker had the ball in the net again after a parry by Oliver Christensen, but this time it was a foul in the preceding play that saw it count for nothing. Things calmed down after that, with the Berliners seeing more of the ball up to the break but Schalke having more moments in attack.
Yet it didn’t remain goalless at the Olympiastadion for long after the restart as Lucas Tousart latched onto a clearance and fired home from 20 yards as Schalke’s Hertha-owned goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow failed to get enough behind the shot. Aware of the urgency of their situation, Die Knappen tried to up the pace and force an equaliser. That finally came with just six minutes left on the clock as Florent Mollet drilled home inside the near post. However, the joy was short lived as Kanga was played in with just minutes remaining to slot the Berliners back into the lead. Just a second win of the season and first on home soil since April moves Hertha up to 13th in the table. Schalke’s seventh defeat of the campaign – combined with Bochum’s victory over Union earlier in the day – sees them slip to the foot of the table after 11 rounds of fixtures.
Watch: Kanga: "They never stopped trusting me"
Watch: Christensen praises goalscorer Kanga
Hertha: Christensen - Kenny, Rogel, Kempf, Plattenhardt (c) - Tousart, Serdar (Sunjic 73’) - Lukebakio (Dardai 90’+1), Jovetic (Boetius 90’+1), Ejuke (Richter 46’) - Kanga (Selke 90'+6)
Unused subs: Ernst, Pekarik, Mittelstädt, Maolida
Out: Boateng (ill), Gechter (fitness), Jarstein (not considered), Ngankam (fitness), Nsona (cruciate ligament), Uremovic (ankle)
Coach: Sandro Schwarz
Schalke: Schwolow - Brunner, Yoshida, Matriciani - Aydin (Karaman 73’), Kral, Krauß (Latza 59’), Ouwejan - Drexler (Mollet 59’), Terodde (c), Bülter
Unused subs: Fährmann, Larsson, Kolodziejczak, Flick, Mohr, Polter
Out: Cisse (muscular), Greiml (meniscus), Kaminski (calf), van den Berg (ankle), Zalazar (metatarsal)
Coach: Matthias Kreutzer
Watch: Kral: "Need to bounce back really fast"