Schalke Thrash Paderborn As Freiburg Overtake Hoffenheim In Bundesliga

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David Wagner urged his Schalke side to put the past behind them after they beat Paderborn 5-1 on Sunday, while Freiburg moved up to third in the Bundesliga with a derby win at Hoffenheim.

Schalke, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, tore through Paderborn in a frenzy of goals at the end of the second half to pick up their second win of the season and move up to sixth in the table.

“It’s a new season, and I can only ask the boys to look forward,” said Wagner.

Goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel said that new coach Wagner had “cleared the heads” of the Schalke players.

Schalke’s French midfielder Amine Harit (L) celebrates scoring with his team-mate Spanish midfielder Omar Mascarell during the German first division Bundesliga football match Paderborn v Schalke 04 in Paderborn, western Germany on September 15, 2019. Friso Gentsch / dpa / AFP

“We are playing much more freely now,” he told Sky.

Brazilian midfielder Cauly gave Paderborn an early lead, picking out the top corner with a looping header to celebrate his 24th birthday with a goal.

Schalke were then denied several times by Paderborn keeper Jannik Huth before Salif Sane headed them level on 33 minutes.

Suat Serdar completed the turnaround just after the break, firing in a loose ball at the edge of the area to put Schalke ahead.

English full-back Jonjoe Kenny set up the third with a marauding run from deep, eventually cutting the ball back for Harit to slot it into the bottom corner.

Ahmed Kutucu added a fourth on the counter-attack seven minutes from time, before setting up Harit minutes later to complete the rout.

 Freiburg overtake Bayern 

Earlier on Sunday, Freiburg midfielder Janik Haberer hailed a “great day” for the Bundesliga minnows as they beat neighbours Hoffenheim 3-0 to continue their dream start to the season.

“It is a great day for us and our fans, it is always special to win a derby,” said Haberer, who joined Nils Petersen and Christian Guenter on the scoresheet.

The win leaves Freiburg in third and sees them leapfrog perennial champions Bayern Munich, who were held to a 1-1 draw at league leaders RB Leipzig on Saturday.

Freiburg were ruthless in the first half and deserved their two-goal lead at the break.

Guenter swept in the opener after a darting run in from the left wing on 11 minutes, and Petersen had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the half-hour mark.

Haberer doubled the lead on 38 minutes, picking out the bottom corner brilliantly from the edge of the area.

Hoffenheim, who had shown only flashes of danger in the first half, were caught napping when an unmarked Petersen poached the third goal on the hour.

Christian Streich’s side have now won three of their opening four games, with only Bayern and Borussia Dortmund having scored more goals so far.

“Our primary goal is still just to avoid relegation, but it is a great feeling to be so high up the table,” Haberer told Sky.

AFP