Schalke 04 have capitalised on a red card shown to Vedad Ibisevic by taking a 1-0 lead over Hertha Berlin at Veltins Arena.
Possession was shared pretty evenly in the opening minutes, before Hertha were dealt a blow when they were reduced to 10 men with just 18 minutes on the clock.
Ibisevic could have no arguments with the decision after catching Max Meyer with a dangerous tackle to give the referee no other option.
Predictably, Schalke started to dictate the tempo following the dismissal, and they took the lead when Benedikt Howedes found the space to head home from a Johannes Geis corner.
Hertha almost produced an immediate response when Genki Haraguchi managed to burst into the box before seeing an effort comfortably stopped by Ralf Fahrmann.
Callum Mulvihill
