Schalke have suffered seven straight defeats in all competitions.

A Vincenzo Grifo double saw SC Freiburg move back up to third in the Bundesliga with a convincing 2-0 win at Veltins Arena.

Making it a seventh victory in ten away games for Freiburg while condemning their hosts to a first-ever run of seven straight losses in their 118-year history.

Freiburg started the game on the front foot as they looked to build on a strong start to the season, and in the first major opening, Ritsu Dōan’s low shot was prevented from finding the bottom-left corner by Alexander Schwolow.

Having wasted no time in taking command of proceedings at a packed Veltins Arena, the Breisgau-Brasilianer continued to search for an opener, as Maximilian Eggestein met a Christian Günter cross but could only send his header wide.

Schalke first tested Mark Flekken after 19 minutes, as Kenan Karaman’s snapshot was saved by the Dutchman to keep the scores level, before Dōan then went close once again, only to see a tame effort saved after being put through one-on-one.

But Freiburg finally took the lead just before the break through Vincenzo Grifo, who received the ball on the edge of the area before bending a sublime effort into the bottom corner.

Freiburg almost added a second just after the break, as Grifo let a shot fly from the edge of the box that was parried away, and Woo-Yeong Jeong sliced the rebound wide of an open goal.

The visitors continued to dictate, as Lukas Kübler reacted quickest on a loose ball to fire a shot towards goal, but his effort was blocked on the line by a defender.

It seemed only a matter of time before Freiburg would net the killer second goal, and the visitors were awarded a penalty after a VAR check, due to a foul on Jeong approaching the hour mark.

Grifo stepped up and rifled home his second strike of the night, in turn registering his first Bundesliga brace since March and sealing the points with 30 minutes still to play. Smelling blood, Kübler almost added a third for Freiburg when a ball fell to him via a corner, and he forced a fantastic save from Schwolow.

Schalke continued to fight back, but Flekken denied Tom Krauss a goal with a fantastic save from close range, illustrating the gulf between the two backlines on a dark night for the Royal Blues in Gelsenkirchen. 

Following the result, Schalke prop up the rest of the table as they sit five points adrift of safety, whilst Freiburg remain in third just two points behind surprise leaders Union Berlin.