Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored a hat-trick this afternoon as Schalke 04 stormed to a 4-0 victory over Stuttgart to continue their climb up the table.

Stuttgart were left shocked as Schalke broke the deadlock inside the opening minute when Choupo-Moting found the space to turn the ball home from Tranquillo Barnetta's inviting free kick.

The hosts struggled to produce a response, and Schalke doubled the lead in the 10th minute when Max Meyer beat the offside trap, before heading in from a tight angle after taking the ball past Sven Ulreich.

It was soon 3-0 to the visitors as Choupo-Moting took full advantage of more poor marking from Stuttgart to powerfully head home from Barnetta's corner.

Schalke's dominance continued heading into the break, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar seeing Ulreich hold on to one header before the Dutch striker nodded over from a corner moments later.

Stuttgart, possibly with an eye on avoiding an embarrassing scoreline, looked to keep it tight early in the second half, but they were powerless to prevent Choupo-Moting from completing his hat-trick as Barnetta crossed for the forward to head in once again.

Ralf Fahrmann was then forced into action to protect his clean sheet when Martin Harnik found the space to unleash a low effort at goal.

It proved to be a comfortable finish for Schalke as Roberto Di Matteo's side picked up three more valuable points in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.