Back on track
Christian Gross’ men welcomed Hoffenheim to the Veltins-Arena a short time ago, for their latest league outing.
The hosts headed into proceedings in historically dismal form, having not managed a single win from their opening 14 Bundesliga outings.
Such struggles unsurprisingly left Schalke sitting dead bottom of the German top-flight ahead of kick-off, with a paltry 4 points on the board.
As outlined above, however, when all was said and done this afternoon, not only did Die Knappen manage to turn things around, but they did so in impressive style, en route to a 4-0 win.
There proved not one, but two stars of the show for the home side, in the form of Matthew Hoppe and Amine Harit.
The former, just 19, bagged a hat-trick, in the process etching his name into the history books of German football, as the first American to ever net 3 goals in a Bundesliga fixture.
MATTHEW HOPPE HAT TRICK!
Schalke are on the verge of snapping their 30-game winless streak 😳 pic.twitter.com/OhjrjETuT3
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 9, 2021
Teammate Harit, meanwhile, remarkably teed up all of Hoppe’s strikes, before rounding out a dazzling individual display with a goal of his own ten minutes from time.
And now Amine Harit has a goal of his own.
Schalke 4-0 Hoffenheim. 😅 https://t.co/18oWsFmwSY
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 9, 2021
The Kola effect
Another interesting side note surrounding today’s action at the Veltins-Arena, meanwhile, surrounds the participation of Sead Kolasinac.
Bosnian full-back Kolasinac returned for his 2nd stint with Schalke last week, linking up with Gross’ outfit on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
In turn, after sitting out versus Hertha Berlin last weekend, the Gunners-owned stopper went on to make his 2nd debut this afternoon, featuring from the off versus Hoffenheim.
And it is fair to say that Kola’s impact was very much felt, as the 27-year-old played a key role in guiding his side to a rare clean sheet, and, even more significantly, a first Bundesliga win in 30 (yes, THIRTY) attempts, dating back to last season.
Schalke have ended their 30-game winless run in the Bundesliga:
LDDDLLDLLLLDDLLLLLLDLDDLLLDLLLW
Their first league win in 359 days. pic.twitter.com/jLNCgIG1YD
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 9, 2021
