Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored his league-leading 14th goal of the season Friday to help Schalke beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 and move provisionally into second place in the Bundesliga.
The Dutch international forward struck in the 20th minute, controlling Andre Mijatovic's attempted clearance with his first touch before sweeping the ball past Hertha goalkeeper Thomas Kraft with his second.
It was Huntelaar's 25th goal in 25 games across all competitions this season.
Teemu Pukki might have made it 2-0 five minutes later - when Huntelaar set him up - but the Finn missed an attempted back heel from close range.
Instead Adrian Ramos equalized at the other end when he beat two Schalke defenders to head in Raffael's corner.
But Pukki made amends for his earlier miss when he took a pass from Raul Gonzalez on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable shot under the crossbar in the 44th.
''When you win an away game you have to be happy,'' Schalke coach Huub Stevens said after defeating his former club.
Schalke is level on points with leader Bayern Munich ahead of the weekend's games. Berlin remains ninth.
''The lads tried everything, but we were missing that pinch of luck,'' said Hertha coach Markus Babbel.
Hertha might have had a penalty when United States midfielder Jermaine Jones appeared to clear the ball with his arm in the first half.
''We deserved at least a point but unfortunately we didn't get it,'' Babbel said.
