Result: Schalke v Borussia Monchengladbach
Date: 17 January 2020
Venue: VELTINS-Arena
Borussia Monchengladbach were denied the chance to move top of the Bundesliga table after a 2-0 loss to Schalke on Friday night.
Royal Blues manager David Wagner made three changes from their 2-2 draw with Freiburg before the winter break with Matija Nastasic, Michael Gregoritsch and Alessandro Schopf all earning starts. Meanwhile, Gladbach made four alterations as Oscar Wendt, Stefan Lainer, Jonas Hofmann and Patrick Herrmann all came to the fore.
The game started at a quick pace, as Gregoritsch and Suat Serdar both came close to giving Schalke an early lead but they were both denied by Gladbach shot-stopper Yann Sommer in quick succession.
Benito Raman had a chance to break the deadlock for Wagner's charges in the 28th minute after being sent clear on goal by Gregoritsch but his low shot towards the bottom corner was saved by Sommer.
The Foals came to life in the closing phase of the first stanza as Herrmann almost snatched the lead on the stroke of half-time with a left-footed strike that forced Schalke goalkeeper Marcus Schubert into a smart save,
Serdar finally broke the deadlock for the Royal Blues three minutes after the break with a low striike from outside the box that beat Sommer and sailed into the bottom corner.
Gregoritsch gave Schalke a two-goal lead two minutes before the hour-mark with neat finish towards the bottom corner after being teed up by Raman on a quick counter-attack.
Marco Rose's troops were not lying down and came close to pulling a goal back with 20 minutes remaining after Marcus Thuram let fly with a looping strike from outside the box that was saved by Schubert at the top of the crossbar.
Nevertheless, Schalke were able to see out the closing stages to claim three points and move up to fourth spot, while Gladbach remain in second spot.
