Saturday, February 21, 2009

Die Enttäuschung ist sehr groß

After ninety minutes of heated play in the Revier-Derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen, the match ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw for the home side. The match will unquestionably be remembered for Kevin Kurányi's stunning goal that came from an equally remarkable cross from Halil Altıntop, however regardless of what could ultimately be called the highlight strike of the year, Mohamed Zidan canceled the advantage late and sent those in Veltins-Arena home unsatisfied.

Intensity in this heated rivalry is never in question and tackling always had a cutting edge to it. BVB's Kevin-Prince Boateng, a player of great potential, came out with a bit too much venom and was lucky to escape with only a yellow-card five minutes after the opening whistle when he trampled Mladen Krstajić. Unfortunately it wasn't long before the Serbian international could not longer continue and was replaced by Halil Altıntop. Twenty minutes into the match Altıntop was pinned in the right corner by BVB defenders and managed to sent a blind, perfect to the spot to the cross into the box with Kevin Kurányi finishing with a stunning volley into the net. After a number of bad challenges and in a effort to increase their attacking pulse Kevin-Prince Boateng was replaced by Egyptian capped Mohamed Zidan at the break. This would have a telling impact upon the match as die Königsblauen were playing too far back and allowed Dortmund to come at them more. At the hour mark Kevin Kurányi had a chance to double the margin as he came in alone on Dortmund 'keeper Roman Weidenfeller but his shot was off line. Following Nelson Valdez entrance for Alexander Frei, Dortmund began to have the run of play with he and Zidan posing danger. With victory in sight, Zidan leveled the match with nine minutes left when he got on the end Valdez's provision after a scramble in the box. Now even, the visitors were ready to grab a win and five minutes from time Zidan's effort was pushed back with a incredible save by Manuel Neuer to keep the match even.