Schalke hold on to second place with 2-0 win over Dortmund
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Yevhen Konoplyanka celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
BERLIN (Reuters) - Schalke 04 beat Ruhr valley rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on Sunday to stay on course for a second-place Bundesliga finish and a return to the Champions League with four games left in the season.
The Royal Blues had the upper hand in the first half but could not make their advantage count against the lethargic visitors.
Five minutes after the restart, however, Yevhen Konoplyanka was left unmarked in the box and drilled in to give Schalke the lead following a defensive mistake from Marcel Schmelzer.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Guido Burgstaller in action with Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek and Sokratis Papastathopoulos REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Brazilian Naldo made sure of the points for Domenico Tedesco's team with a free-kick missile from 25 metres out in the 82nd minute.
To make matters worse for Dortmund, their forward Michy Batshuayi had to be taken off on a stretcher with an injury in stoppage time. The 24-year-old Belgian is on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season.
Schalke are second on 55 points with Dortmund dropping to fourth on 51, behind third-placed Bayer Leverkusen on goal difference, after they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 on Saturday.The top four teams qualify for the Champions League group stage.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Guido Burgstaller in action with Borussia Dortmund's Omer Toprak REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Already-champions Bayern Munich crushed Borussia Moenchengladbach 5-1 on Saturday.
RB Leipzig came from a goal down but managed only a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen to suffer a setback in their own Champions League aspirations.
Leipzig moved up to fifth on 47 but are still four points behind Dortmund.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Yevhen Konoplyanka scores their first goal REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis and Clare Fallon)
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Yevhen Konoplyanka celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Yevhen Konoplyanka in action with Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Borussia Dortmund's Andre Schurrle in action with Schalke's Benjamin Stambouli REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Naldo scores their second goal REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - April 15, 2018 Schalke's Naldo celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
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