BERLIN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Dawid Kownacki's brace helped in-form Fortuna Dusseldorf crush struggling Schalke 4-0 at the 24th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.
Newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf reaped their second straight win with a faultless performance over Schalke, who suffered the 13th loss of the season.
From the start, Schalke kept all their men behind the ball and let Fortuna do the work. However, clear-cut opportunities remained a rare occurrence in the first 20 minutes.
The hosts thought they had broken the deadlock with 23 minutes played but the video assistant referee disallowed Dodi Lukebakio's opener due to a foregone foul play.
Schalke continued uninspired whereas Dusseldorf remained offensively minded but still it was a handball penalty that allowed the hosts to grab the opener as Lukebakio made no mistake from 11 meters in the 35th minute.
After the restart, Schalke increased the pressure but only Amine Harit came close after testing Dusseldorf's goalkeeper Michael Rensing from close range in the 65th minute.
The goals were scored at the other end of the pitch as Benito Raman's through ball helped Dawid Kownacki who overcame Alexander Nubel to double the lead for Dusseldorf with 68 minutes played.
Things went from bad to worse for Schalke after Raman got his name on the scoreboards moments later, before Kownacki's brace put the 4-0 victory beyond doubt in the 84th minute.
With the result, Schalke extended their winless run to six games to stay on the 14th place meanwhile Dusseldorf climbed on the 11th position of the standings.
Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind after shocking 10-man Hoffenheim 3-2 on Goncalo Paciencia's winner in the dying seconds of the game.
Leipzig secured their 13th victory of the season, as Lukas Klostermann's sole goal was enough to down resilient bottom side Nuremberg.
Mainz gave away a 1-0 lead as Hertha Berlin bounced back to wrap three points on 2-1 home win and goals from Leon Bailey and Charles Aranguiz secured Bayer Leverkusen a 2-0 victory over Freiburg.
