Monchengladbach, Schalke win in Bundesliga

Berlin, Feb 1: While Monchengladbach and Schalke started the second half of the campaign with victories, Borussia Dortmund dropped to the bottom despite a draw with Leverkusen in the 18th round of the German Bundesliga.

Fourth placed Monchengladbach increased Stuttgart’s relegation worries following a 1–0 away Saturday night, reported Xinhua.

Ten–man Schalke started the second half of the season with a rrow 1–0 victory against Hannover.

The “Royal Blues” opened the scoring at the half hour mark through Macro Hoeger, who capitalised on Christian Fuchs’ pass into the box to make it 1–0 on the scoreboard with a long range shot. Schalke jumped to fourth place with 27 points and Hannover remain in eighth place.

Dortmund shared the spoils with Leverkusen following a goalless draw, but despite earning a vital point, Dortmund slumped to the last place in the standings.

Relegation threatened Freiburg came from behind to stun Frankfurt 4–1 thanks to the hat–trick by new arrival Nils Petersen.

Elsewhere, Mainz humiliated newly promoted Paderborn 5–0 courtesy Yunus Malli’s brace, and Cologne’s Marcel Risse scored two goals to down struggling Hamburg 2–0. IANS