Schalke 04 have remained in pole position for third place in the Bundesliga with a solid 2-0 win away to Freiburg on Saturday afternoon.

The home team saw plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges and Jonathan Schmid came close with a shot on 10 minutes, but his effort went narrowly wide of goal.

However, shortly after that effort Schalke took the lead. Kaan Ayhan was found by Roman Neustadter and slashed the ball in from just outside the box.

During a scrappy spell Julian Draxler tried to take matters into his own hands, but he blasted an effort over the bar from outside the box.

Freiburg came into the game a little more after the break, but the points were all but secure on 65 minutes when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finished neatly from around the penalty spot.

Felipe Santana picked up a second yellow card on 73 minutes to set up a tense 20 minutes for his team, but Schalke were able to hold on for all three points.