Bundesliga Wrap: Schalke, Augsburg post wins

Schalke kept the pressure on third-placed Borussia Dortmund with a 2-0 home win over Hannover in Sunday’s Bundesliga action.

Jens Keller’s side remain two points behind Dortmund after their latest success as the race for an automatic UEFA Champions League qualification place continues.

Schalke, unbeaten in four league matches at the start of play, took the lead in the 39th minute thanks to excellent work from Sead Kolasinac.

The Bosnian ran down the left, beat Hannover’s Marcelo and reached the byline before squaring across the face of goal.

Jefferson Farfan was on hand to turn into an empty net and Schalke doubled their advantage just five minues later.

The goal was similar to the first, with Max Meyer applying the finish after Farfan had released full-back Atsuto Uchida down the right.

Hannover sit 10th in the league table after suffering a first defeat in 2014.

Sunday’s other match saw Augsburg extend their unbeaten streak in the league to eight matches with a 4-1 success at Stuttgart.

The visitors had already scored twice before Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibisevic was sent off in the 53rd minute.

Arkadiusz Milik tapped into an empty net for the opener in the 35th minute and highly rated midfielder Andre Hahn made it 2-0 before half-time.

Hahn produced a composed left-footed finish in the 56th minute to claim his second goal of the game and ninth of the season.

A shell-shocked Stuttgart responded six minutes later as Konstantin Rausch rounded Alex Manninger and scored but Augsburg quickly restored their three-goal lead through Tobias Werner.

Augsburg now sit eighth in the table, while Stuttgart are 14th and have lost all four of their league games in 2014.