Story highlights
Victory at Hertha Berlin puts Schalke second in the German league table
Friday's 2-1 win lifts Schalke above Borussia Dortmund and Monchengladbach
Schalke on 31 points along with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich
Bayern travel to Stuttgart on Sunday, when Dortmund host Kaiserslautern
Schalke joined Bayern Munich at the top of the German Bundesliga table with a 2-1 victory at Hertha Berlin on Friday.
Striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar put the visitors ahead with his 14th league goal this season, while Teemu Pukki fired the winner just before halftime after Adrian Ramos equalized for Hertha.
The win put Schalke on 31 points from 16 games, enough for second place on goal difference behind Bayern – who travel to Stuttgart on Sunday.
Borussia Monchengladbach can go top on Saturday with victory at bottom side Augsburg, while third-placed champions Borussia Dortmund can also move up to 33 points by beating another team in the relegation zone, Kaiserslautern, at home on Sunday.
Schalke took the lead in the 19th minute on the counter-attack as Lewis Holtby released Christian Fuchs, whose cross was flicked on by Roman Hubnik to Huntelaar and the Dutchman finished at the far post.
Ramos leveled six minutes later with a powerful header from Raffael’s corner, but Finland striker Pukki made up for an overly casual earlier miss with a fierce shot from the edge of the box after being picked out by Raul.
Huntelaar was denied in the second half by a fine save from goalkeeper Thomas Kraft, while Jose Jurado should have doubled the lead late in the game but the Spaniard shot wide.
The defeat left Hertha in ninth place with 19 points, and facing the prospect of sliding down the 18-team table by the end of this weekend.
