Guido Burgstaller scored the only goal of the game on Saturday afternoon in a loss that means Eintracht slipped down a rung in the table after being overtaken by VfB Stuttgart, who recorded a 4-1 win away to Bayern Munich. Leipzig held on to sixth place with a convincing triumph away to Hertha Berlin.
Personnel: Abraham misses out
Eintracht captain David Abraham started on the bench after sustaining a knock recently, so Marco Russ began in central defence alongside Carlos Salcedo. Sebastien Haller kept his place up front following his good display against Hamburg last week, while Jetro Willems and Danny da Costa lined up out wide. Prince Boateng took over as skipper on his return to his former club.
First half: Schalke score 26th goal from a set piece
The match followed a rather different pattern from the teams' recent meeting in the DFB Cup semi-finals, with Schalke this time pressing early and not allowing SGE any time to build from the back. As such, the hosts regained possession quickly and enjoyed more possession, limiting Eintracht's progress in the final third. Chances were few and far between early on at the sold-out Veltins-Arena, although Mijat Gacinovic tested Ralf Fährmann in the ninth minute with the outside of his boot, before Haller fired wide shortly afterwards. The hosts were more clinical in the 26th minute when Burgstaller nodded in Daniel Caligiuri's teasing free-kick, taking Schalke's goal tally from set pieces to 26 for the season. The same duo were involved in the next opportunity for Domenico Tedesco's troops, combining to set up Amine Harit, who missed the target with only Lukas Hradecky to beat on the stroke of half-time.
Second half: Hradecky excels
At the start of the second period Niko Kovac brought on Ante Rebic and Jonathan de Guzman, who had recently been absent through illness and injury respectively. While it breathed new life into Eintracht's forward forays, the visitors were still unable to force an equaliser and it wasn't until the closing stages that the pace of the game picked up again. Hradecky came to the fore once more in the 67th minute, saving a one-on-one effort from Caligiuri with his foot, before denying Cedric Teuchert in a similar situation five minutes later and then preventing Burgstaller from doubling his tally in the 74th minute. Shortly after that, Alexander Nübel saved from Rebic at the other end of the pitch, and da Costa poked a shot just wide from inside a crowded six-yard box.
Summary: Deserved home win
SGE struggled to get going in the first half against an aggressive Schalke side and were pegged in for large spells. Schalke largely managed to keep Eintracht at bay after the break too, leaving the Bundesliga runners-up as deserved victors. The result means the Eagles were unable to qualify for the UEFA Europa League through their league position, but can still do so by winning the DFB Cup final.
SGE line-up
Hradecky – Salcedo, Russ, da Costa – Willems, Wolf – Mascarell, Fernandes (de Guzman 46') – Gacinovic (Rebic 46'), Boateng – Haller (Jovic 65')
Goals:
1-0 Burgstaller (26')
