Huntelaar hits brace as Hamburg hold Schalke in Bundesliga

Klaas Jan-Huntelaar celebrates

Dutchman Huntelaar struck twice in the first half as Schalke were held to an entertaining 3-3 draw by Hamburg SV.

Huntelaar opened the scoring with only 80 seconds on the clock, as he was put through by Julian Draxler and slotted home to give hosts Schalke an early lead at the Veltins-Arena.

Huntelaar’s Dutch compatriot Rafael van der Vaart then equalised from the penalty spot in the 12th minute, and then Schalke found themselves behind in the 23rd minute as Maximillian Beister headed Hamburg ahead. The first half produced yet another goal when Huntelaar grabbed his second with a header, to level the match with the last kick of the first half.

The second half didn’t bring the goalkeepers any respite as another headed goal, this time from Lasse Sobiech, put Hamburg in the lead within four minutes of the restart.

Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler then gifted Schalke an equaliser in the 72nd minute, as he failed to gather a long range shot by Christian Clemens and allowed Szalai to score the rebound.

Minutes earlier, Adler has made a brilliant point blank save from Szalai. Joel Matip squandered two good chances to win the game for Schalke, who will be looking to push on and improve on their 4th place finish in the Bundesliga last season.

The opening round of the Bundesliga produced 37 goals in 9 games, with only Augsburg, VFL Wolfsburg and newly promoted Eintracht Braunschweig failing to get on the score sheet.