Schalke ensured they remain in the hunt for a European place with victory at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Heiko Westermann grabbed what proved to be the decisive goal, shortly after Eintracht's Michael Fink had canceled out Rafinha's opener.
It was only Schalke's second win in six league matches, but moves them up to seventh in the standings - two points off a Europa League spot.
Eintracht are heading in the opposite direction, and are down to 13th with three points separating them from the drop zone.
The first half was a scrappy affair and both teams struggled to create openings of note.
Instead, it was a battle for midfield supremacy which resulted in several ugly challenges and forced referee Florian Meyer to dish out eight yellow cards - four for each side.
The match eventually saw some action six minutes before the interval when Schalke broke the deadlock.
In what was the first threatening chance of the match, Westermann set up Rafinha with a long pass from the right wing and the Brazilian drilled home into the top-left corner from 12 yards.
The second half began as slowly as the first, but Benjamin Kohler tried to liven things up with a strike which dipped over Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and just over the crossbar.
The visitors failed to heed the warning and after 81 minutes, Fink slammed a right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from close range when he was given space to latch onto Martin Fenin's cross.
It sparked scenes of jubilation among the home fans, but they lasted just two minutes before Schalke regained the lead for good.
A Jermaine Jones free-kick produced a scramble in the penalty area, during which Westermann stuck out a foot and poked the ball home from a few yards out.
