Schalke 04 secured their first home win of the Bundesliga season by claiming a 2-1 victory over Mainz O5 at Veltins Arena this evening.
The home side created the first opportunity when Max Meyer collected Franco Di Santo's pass and raided to the edge of the box, but his low strike was saved by Loris Karius.
Joel Matip came close to breaking the deadlock when he rose highest in the air to head at goal from Johannes Geis's corner, but he sent his effort wide of the post.
The visitors hit back with a couple of chances of their own as Danny Latza and Yunus Malli sent efforts just wide of the target from outside the box.
Schalke took the lead just before the break when Matip connected with another corner from Geis, but this time his effort nestled into the top corner.
However, Malli brought Mainz level when he was able to tap the ball home from close range on the rebound after Christian Clemens's shot had hit the post.
In the second half, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar restored the home side's lead when he received the ball in the box and buried his effort beyond the reach of Karius.
Mainz pressed to get back into the game, but Yoshinori Muto's strike from a tight angle hit the side-netting.
Florian Niederlechner had one last chance to earn a point for the visitors, but his effort was well saved by Ralf Fahrmann as Schalke held out for the win.
Simon Sinclair
