Schalke beats Dortmund 2-0 for 1st Ruhr derby win since 2014

Schalke beat rival Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Ruhr derby on Sunday to consolidate second place in the Bundesliga and take a giant step toward guaranteeing a Champions League spot.

Second-half goals from Yevhen Konoplyanka and Naldo gave Schalke an eight-point cushion over fifth-place Leipzig with four rounds remaining.

The top four in Germany qualify for the Champions League.

Coach Domenico Tedesco celebrated with fans in the stands.

Dortmund's first derby defeat since September 2014 dropped the side to fourth, below Bayer Leverkusen on goal difference. Dortmund is four points behind Schalke and four ahead of Leipzig, held to a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen in the late game.

"We made individual mistakes," Dortmund coach Peter Stoeger said after his second defeat in 15 games. "They made better use of the decisive situations than we did."

Schalke looked more likely to score in the first half, though Dortmund's Marco Reus went closest when he drew a good save from Ralf Faehrmann with a free kick.

Konoplyanka broke the deadlock five minutes after the break after a mistake from Marcel Schmelzer. The Dortmund captain lost the ball to Daniel Caligiuri, who surged forward and found the unmarked Konoplyanka to pick his spot and blast inside the left post.

Dortmund looked labored as it sought a response against the home side's well-organized defense, and Naldo settled the result late with an indirect free kick. Marco Pjaca tipped the ball to Caligiuri, who stopped it for Naldo. The defender hammered the ball past Dortmund's ineffective wall and inside the left post again.

Dortmund's disappointing afternoon ended with Michy Batshuayi being stretchered off in injury time.

GERMANY Bundesliga

Yesterday Schalke-Dortmund ........................... 2-0 Werder Bremen-RB Leipzig .............. 1-1

Standings

P W D L F A Pts B. Munich 30 24 3 3 81 22 75 Schalke 30 16 7 7 47 33 55 B. Leverkusen 30 14 9 7 55 37 51 Dortmund 30 14 9 7 57 41 51 RB Leipzig 30 13 8 9 45 42 47 Hoffenheim 30 12 10 8 55 42 46 E. Frankfurt 30 13 7 10 41 37 46 B. M’gladbach 30 11 7 12 39 48 40 Hertha Berlin 30 9 12 9 35 35 39 Stuttgart 30 11 6 13 27 35 39 Augsburg 30 9 10 11 38 40 37 W. Bremen 30 9 10 11 34 36 37 Hannover 30 9 9 12 38 44 36 Wolfsburg 30 5 15 10 30 37 30 Freiburg 29 6 12 11 26 48 30 Mainz 29 6 9 14 30 47 27 Hamburger 30 5 7 18 23 48 22 FC Koln 30 5 6 19 29 58 21