Hamburg upset Schalke 3-2 in German Bundesliga

APD NEWS

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Schalke suffered a surprising defeat after losing 3-2 to last placed Hamburg in the 29th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

Hamburg secured a vital victory in their relegation battle and returned to winning ways as they shocked second -placed Schalke thanks to the winner from Aaron Hunt in the dying minutes of the game.

The visitors from Schalke grabbe da bright start on the road as Naldo broke the deadlock after heading home Daniel Caligiuri's free kick with just nine minutes played.

Hamburg regrouped and levelled the scores in the 17th minute when Douglas Santos throw the ballinto the box and found Filip Kostic, who headed home from three meters to make it 1-1 on the scoreboards.

The hosts came out strong after the restart and shocked the "Royal Blues" with the 2-1 lead as Tatsuya Ito's build up work allowed Lewis Holtby to tap home the lead with a follow up shot from close range, seven minutes into the second half.

However, it was a short-lived joy for Hamburg as Schalke rallied back through Guido Burgstaller, who capitalized on a rebound to poke home from inside the box in the 63rd minute.

It looked like both teams would settle for a two all draw but the "HSV" had the last laugh when Aaron Hunt unleashed a hammer from outside the box into the top left corner to snatch all three points on home soil in the closing period.

"Hamburg made our life difficult today. Hamburg played very well whereas we played very badly. From nothing, comes nothing," Schalke's head coach Domenico Tedesco said.

"We have achieved nothing yet. The victory was important for us. We were rewarded for our good work and need to focus on our next games," Hamburg's head coach Christian Titz said.

With the result, Hamburg climb off the last place onto 17th and ended their 17-game winless run while Schalke's six-game winning run came to an end.

The following fixtures are scheduled on Sunday: third-placed Borussia Dortmund encounter newly-promoted Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt host Hoffenheim.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)