SCHALKE AVOIDED a record-equalling 31st consecutive Bundesliga game without a win on Saturday as American teenager Matthew Hoppe netted a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Hoffenheim to lift his side off the bottom of the table.
After a 30-match winless streak in the league, Schalke enjoyed their first Bundesliga victory in just under a year as Hoppe, 19, hit the first hat-trick of his career by converting three chances created by Morocco’s Amine Harit, who scored the fourth goal.
Mainz replace Schalke at the bottom of the table and Tasmania Berlin, who went 31 games without a win in the 1965/66 season, keep the Bundesliga record for the longest winless run.
The result represents an encouraging start to life under Schalke’s new manager Christian Gross — the former Tottenham boss took charge of the struggling club just after Christmas.
