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Monday 23 April 2012

Huntelaar spares Schalke's blushes at Augsburg

Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brushed off his training pitch bust-up with team-mate Jermaine Jones to save Schalke 04's blushes on Sunday in their 1-1 draw at Augsburg in the German league.
The German title was decided on Saturday when Borussia Dortmund clinched their eighth championship with a 2-0 win at home to Moenchengladbach.
But while Dortmund will finish top with Bayern Munich in second spot, third place, and an automatic Champions League place, is still to be decided between fourth-placed Gladbach and Schalke, who have a two-point lead in third.
Huntelaar's 38th-minute strike cancelled out Augsburg's opener after just six minutes from defender Sebastian Langkamp and was the Dutchman's 25th of the season to make him joint leading goal-scorer alongside Bayern's Mario Gomez.
"We had wanted to win in Augsburg, but that was difficult after our early setback," said Schalke coach Huub Stevens.
"We shouldn't have allowed it, but we can be happy we have Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He made something out of nothing to get us back to 1-1. We were better in the second half, but it still wasn't the level of performance expected of Schalke."
Augsburg remain 15th, four points away from the relegation zone with two games left.
Pictures of Huntelaar and Jones trading blows in training on Saturday were published in German daily Bild on Sunday.
They appeared in the wake of Bayern Munich reportedly fining French star Franck Ribery 50,000 euros ($66,000) for an alleged dressing room bust-up with team-mate Arjen Robben.
Hanover remain seventh in the league, and on course for a Europa League spot, after their goalless draw with Freiburg.
On Saturday, Dortmund clinched a second successive title as Japan star Shinji Kagawa's second-half goal helped beat Gladbach after Ivan Perisic's first-half header had put the hosts ahead at their sold-out Signal Iduna Park.
The victory left Dortmund eight points clear of Bayern with just two games left.
This is the eighth time that Dortmund have won the German league and the fifth time they have won the Bundesliga since it was founded in 1963.
Victory also extended their record for the German league's longest unbeaten run in a single season to 26 matches.
Earlier, France star Ribery hit a 90th-minute winner as Bayern poached a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen to briefly delay Dortmund's title celebrations.
With Bayern due to visit Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday with a 2-1 lead, coach Jupp Heynckes decided to rest a host of stars.
Bayer Leverkusen remained on course for a Europa League place thanks to a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim, with Germany midfielder Andre Schuerrle hitting a late winner.
Former Germany captain Michael Ballack made a rare appearance from the bench.
At the other end of the table, Kaiserslautern were relegated despite managing a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin.
Berlin look set to join Kaiserslautern in the second division and are locked in a battle with Cologne for 16th place in the league, which gives the chance of survival via a relegation play-off at the season's end.
The side finishing third from bottom faces the third-best team in the second division in a two-legged play-off.
Cologne were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Stuttgart, while Hamburg look to have avoided relegation after their 1-1 draw at Nuremberg.

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