Schalke slump to fifth straight Bundesliga defeat
BERLIN: Schalke remain bottom of the German Bundesliga following a fifth straight Bundesliga defeat with Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Hoffenheim piling the pressure on coach Markus Weinzierl.
With Germany coach Joachim Loew watching, Schalke looked to be on course for their first league points of the season after taking a fourth minute lead at Hoffenheim’s Rhein Neckar Arena.
Swiss striker Breel Embolo fired in a cross which Cameroon striker Eric Choupo-Moting headed home at the far post.
But Hoffenheim drew level when Croatia striker Andrej Kramaric, signed from Leicester City, headed them level on 17 minutes. And midfielder Lukas Rupp slotted home what proved to be the winning goal when his shot beat Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehermann on 41 minutes after his defence had given the ball away in their own half.
Hamburg sacked coach Bruno Labbadia on Sunday after their 1-0 defeat to leaders Bayern Munich, their fourth-straight loss which left them 16th, and Weinzierl is now the next boss sweating about his future with Schalke two places below in rock bottom.
Having been recruited from Augsburg at the start of the season, while sports director Christian Heidel was poached from Mainz, Weinzierl has endured a disastrous start and Schalke are the only club to have no points from their first five league matches. They play their next Europa League group stage match at home to RB Salzburg on Thursday, then face Borussia Moenchengladbach next Sunday at home in the Bundesliga.