Schalke 04 put themselves back in the German league title race on Sunday with a 4-0 hammering of VfL Wolfsburg, while leaders and defending champions Borussia Dortmund finished the weekend with a three-point lead.
The Royal Blues bounced back from last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach and go fourth in the table behind Gladbach and Bayern Munich, who are third.
Five points now separate the Bundesliga’s top four teams.
“I told the team after the game that they do not have to train tomorrow,” said delighted Schalke coach Hubb Stevens, whose team host Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday, then face Bayern in Munich in the league next Sunday.
“We played well, the only thing I would be critical of is that we failed to exploit our opportunities. But you could really see how much fun the team was having, as they should do.”
Former Spain striker Raul netted after just 10 minutes and then a superb cross from Austria defender Christian Fuchs was converted by Dutch star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on 15 minutes.
Huntelaar was denied his second on 36 minutes when Wolfsburg’s Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio saved his penalty, but Schalke grabbed the third just after the break when midfielder Joel Matip fired home.
Huntelaar then joined Bayern’s Mario Gomez as the league’s joint-top scorer when he headed home another Fuchs cross on 72 minutes to leave him with 18 goals in 21 league games.
It was a bitter return for Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath, who was sacked by the Royal Blues in February 2011.
Ex-Germany goalkeeper Timo Hidebrandt made his first Bundesliga appearance for 22 months when he came on for injured Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, who broke his collarbone in the first-half.
Hanover, who face Club Brugge in the Europa League on Thursday then Dortmund in the league next Sunday, enjoyed an impressive 4-2 win at home to Stuttgart.
On Saturday, Dortmund earned a 1-0 win at struggling Hertha Berlin, while Bayern lost some ground with a goalless draw at bottom side Freiburg.
The draw leaves the bottom three teams – Kaiserslautern, Augsburg and Freiburg – all on 18 points. Bayern, meanwhile, lag four points behind Dortmund.
