Berlin (Germany), January 10: The "Royal Blues" returned to winning ways and snapped their 30-game winless run to sink Hoffenheim 4-0 in the 15th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.
Schalke started highly motivated into the encounter and came to its first clear-cut chance with 14 minutes played when Hoppe pulled wide with the outside of his boot.
Hoffenheim tested Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann through Ishak Belfodil, whose two shots in quick succession were both defused in the 23rd minute.
The hosts assumed control and should have opened the scoring at the half-hour mark, but Andrej Kramaric failed to beat Fahrmann, who was also on guard eight minutes later to defuse Diadie Samassekou's chip.
Schalke punished Hoffenheim for its wastefulness in front of the target as Amine Harit's through ball allowed Hoppe to overcome onrushing Hoffenheim custodian Oliver Baumann for his maiden Bundesliga goal three minutes before the half time.
Hoffenheim came off with the better start into the second half as Fahrmann's save defused Melayro Bogarde's deflected effort in the 48th minute.
However, the goals were scored at the other end of the pitch as Harit once again set up for Hoppe, who had a lot of green ahead and rounded Baumann for the 2-0 lead in the 57th minute.
The American teenager was still not done with the scoring and made it three only six minutes later after Hoppe tapped home Harit's square pass inside the box.
Hoffenheim was unable to respond whereas Schalke added another goal to its lead as Harit rounded off his three assists with a goal after beating Baumann with a one-timer in the 80th minute.
With the result, Schalke moves from the last to the 17th position while Hoffenheim slips to the 14th spot of the Bundesliga standings.
Elsewhere, third-placed Bayer Leverkusen was held to a 1-1 draw by mid-table Werder Bremen.
Ten-man Wolfsburg eked out a two-all draw at Union Berlin thanks to Wout Weghorst's late equalizer.
Freiburg crushed struggling Cologne 5-0 and Andre Silva's brace helped Eintracht Frankfurt to nudge Mainz to last place on the Bundesliga table.
Source: Xinhua