Schalke thrash Wolfsburg to stay in touch

Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored twice as Schalke kept pace with the pack of leaders in the Bundesliga thanks to a dominant 4-0 home victory over Wolfsburg and former coach Felix Magath. Raul gave Schalke the lead after just ten minutes and Huntelaar made it 2-0 after 15 minutes. Joel Matip ended any doubts with his goal to increase the lead to 3-0 in the 49th minute. After earlier failing to convert a penalty, Huntelaar scored his second goal in the 72nd minute. Schalke's win halted a two-game winless streak and lifted them to 44 points, one behind third-placed Bayern Munich and still five points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund. Wolfsburg, whose coach Magath was at the helm of Schalke from July 2009 until March 2011, have lost their last five away matches to remain on 27 points, seven points from a European spot in the table. "I told the team after the game that they do not have to train tomorrow," said delighted Schalke coach Huub Stevens, whose team host Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, then face Bayern Munich in the league on Sunday. "We played well, the only thing I would be critical of is that we failed to exploit our opportunities. But you could really see how much fun the team was having, as they should do." Schalke were lucky not to have fallen behind after three minutes as Atsuto Uchida nearly deflected a cross by Petr Jiracek into his own goal. But the hosts then grabbed the lead as Jefferson Farfan's corner was headed on by Matip to the far left post, where Raul easily struck home from three yards. Huntelaar strikes twice Huntelaar doubled the advantage just five minutes later when a through-ball down the left side found Christian Fuchs for a cross into the middle for the Netherlands striker, who coolly redirected the ball into the right corner. Wolfsburg nearly pulled a goal back in the 17th minute but Felipe's shot went just inches wide. And then Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall made a great save from Yohandry Orozco in the 23rd minute and Mario Mandzukic struck over the crossbar from 11 yards out. Huntelaar missed a golden chance to double his tally and decide the game from the spot in the 36th minute after Felipe was ruled to have handled the ball. Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio deflected Huntelaar's spot-kick off the crossbar. Matip, however, gave Schalke their 3-0 lead in the 49th minute from another set-piece, with Kyriakos Papadopoulos heading a corner to Matip, who backheeled the ball past Benaglio. Huntelaar connected a second time in the 72nd minute with a header from Fuchs' cross for his 18th Bundesliga goal, pulling him level at the top of the scoring list with Bayern's Mario Gomez. In all, Huntelaar has 30 goals in 33 competitive matches this season.