Schalke moved into the Bundesliga’s top four and pushed Bayer Leverkusen out with a 2-0 victory over them at the BayArena that saw the hosts reduced to 10 men in the first half.
Guido Burgstaller gave the visitors the lead in the 11th minute, before Dominik Kohr was sent off in the 38th having collected two yellow cards in quick succession.
Substitute Nabil Bentaleb then added an 89th-minute penalty, awarded after referee Daniel Siebert watched replays of Panagiotis Retsos’ tackle on Breel Embolo on the pitchside monitor.
The opener came when Daniel Caligiuri lofted a long diagonal pass forward towards Burgstaller, who skilfully cut inside Retsos and slotted past goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Leon Bailey went close to equalising with a rising shot that flew just wide of Ralf Fahrmann’s post in the 20th minute, and Leno then made a great diving save to keep out a Leon Goretzka header.
Kohr subsequently got his marching orders following a poor tackle on Embolo that came just six minutes after he had received an initial booking for a foul on Burgstaller.
After the break, Schalke’s Naldo sent three efforts off target while Lucas Alario hit a shot into Fahrmann’s arms at the other end.
Leno superbly denied Embolo shortly before the latter was brought down by Retsos and Siebert pointed to the spot, as well as booking the Leverkusen defender.
With the decision standing following the use of the VAR system, Bentaleb sent Leno the wrong way as Schalke’s victory was sealed.
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