Schalke thumps Wolfsburg behind Huntelaar brace

Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a brace 0 on Sunday to solidify its place in the top four.

Huntelaar scored in the 14th and 71st minutes, and has 18 goals this season to tie Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez. Schalke also got goals from Raul and Joel Matip for its ninth league win at Veltins-Arena this season.

Schalke climbed to within one point third-place Bayern Munich, two of second- place Monchengladbach, and five of leader Borussia Dortmund. The Royal Blues, with 44 points, are eight points clear of fifth-place Werder Bremen.

The top three clubs automatically reach the Champions League, while fourth can reach the competition through qualifying.

Wolfsburg slumped to its 11th loss as it was shutout for the third time in its last four matches. Wolves are eighth, and seven points off the Europa League places.

Hannover 4, Stuttgart 2

Hannover, Germany - Karim Haggui and Mame Biram Diouf scored in the first half and Hannover rolled to a 4-2 win over Stuttgart on Sunday in the Bundesliga to run its unbeaten streak to eight matches.

Haggui began the scoring after 25 minutes and Diouf added his goal in the 32nd minute. Christian Pander added a third Hannover goal in the opening minute of the second half, and Lars Stindl added a fourth in the 73rd at AWD-Arena.

Martin Harnik scored his 10th goal of the season in the 74th for Stuttgart and Shinji Okazaki added his sixth in the 79th, but the visitors went on to suffer their 10th defeat of the season.

Hannover moved even on points with Bayer Leverkusen for sixth place and a spot in the Europa League, while Stuttgart stayed in the top half in ninth on goal differential over Hoffenheim and Hamburg.