Gelsenkirchen, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - An own goal in the 89th minute from Florian Klein handed Schalke a 3-2 win over Stuttgart on Saturday at the Veltins Arena, keeping the visitors rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar's ninth-minute opener was canceled out by Stuttgart's Martin Harnik in the 22nd.
Filip Kostic put Stuttgart ahead in the 51st minute, but after Huntelaar equalized with his second goal of the contest 12 minutes from time, Klein redirected a volley from Kevin-Prince Boateng into his own net to hand Schalke three points.
The win is the first for the home side in seven games and it keeps the club on course for a place in the Europa League, while Stuttgart is three points from safety with three matches to play.
Huntelaar pounced on a poor clearance from Stuttgart's Georg Niedermeier to fire home the opener inside of 10 minutes, while Schalke pressed for a second goal and came close.
However, Stuttgart hit back against the run of play as Daniel Ginczek's pass picked out Harnik and he lifted his shot over goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann.
Huntelaar struck the post for Schalke shortly before halftime, but it was Stuttgart that came out strong in the second half, and after missing a pair of chances, the visitors grabbed the lead when Ginczek set up Kostic for the go- ahead goal.
Kostic squandered an opportunity to extend the lead and his team paid the price as Huntelaar leveled the match in the 78th after being set up by Boateng.
The decisive moment came in the 89th when Boateng met a cross from Dennis Aogo on the volley and his effort struck Klein and found its way past goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.
Second-place Wolfsburg was held to a 2-2 draw at home against Hannover as Wolves squandered a 2-0 halftime lead by allowing second-half strikes from Hannover's Jimmy Briand and Salif Sane.
Bayer Leverkusen moved into third place after getting goals in the second half from Hakan Calhanoglu and Julian Brandt in a 2-0 win over champions Bayern Munich, who clearly have their sights set on Wednesday's Champions League clash with Barcelona.
At the other end of the table Paderborn climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win at Freiburg thanks to a pair of second-half goals from Lukas Rupp, leaving Freiburg above the relegation places on goal difference.
Augsburg and Cologne played out a 0-0 draw, Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund finished 1-1 and Werder Bremen edged Eintracht, 1-0, courtesy of a goal from Davie Selke in the 66th minute.
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