important win for Königsblauen

Desperate for a victory after the loss in the DFB-Pokal to FC Mainz, die Königsblauen responded with a 1-0 victory over Köln. As the score suggests the match was far from easy and there was definitely a number of fortunate misses by Köln that otherwise would have brought the match level. Akin to a high powered car driven by someone afraid to get out of first gear, the tactical style of Schalke after the break was so reserved that they came very close to giving up the victory.

From the mid-week match Fred Rutten brought in Benni Höwedes for Marcelo Bordon alongside Mladen Krstajić and Ivan Rakitić for Orlando Engelaar. After a very cautious ten minutes the match began to open up in Schalker favour. Quickly Köln seemed accepting of the attack and unwilling to risk going forward. At the fifteenth minute Köln defender Marvin Matip did well to block Ivan Rakitić's drive from in the box. Nine minutes later the guests nearly scored when Milivoje Novakovič's curling free kick hooked just enough to go wide. However die Königsblauen found the winning goal three minutes before the half hour with a picture-perfect play. With a long ball to Kevin Kurányi down the left side, the striker turned the ball into Vicente Sánchez who then sent a incredible back heel to Ivan Rakitić. The Croatian international controlled the ball with his chest and then sent the ball back to Jermaine Jones, who hammered into the net from the edge of the area. Köln was well on their heels and Schalke looked to double the margin a with four minutes left in the half Kevin Kurányi close range effort from a Jermaine Jones cross, was saved by 'keeper Faryd Mondragón but the rebound came back and struck a falling Kurányi on his hand and went into the net. While for a moment it looked like the goal would stand it was quickly called back with both Kurányi and Mondragón sharing a few laughs about it.

At the restart it became obvious that die Königsblauen had lost their momentum and quickly were playing very cautious. Köln picked up on this and grew in confidence. Just past the hour Petit's free-kick was nudged on by Milivoje Novakovič to the back post but Youssef Mohamad missed the ball completely and Schalke kept its one goal advance. It was a horrible miss but a theme that Mohamad would repeat on two more occasions. Eleven minutes later whistles filled Veltins-Arena as Fred Rutten decided to replace Ivan Rakitić, who was having a great match with Marcelo Bordon in a clear shift of formation and tactical philosophy. With eight minutes later Vicente Sánchez was replaced by Gerald Asamoah prompting further whistles as the Uruguayan international was inspiring and conversely Jefferson Farfán was dead weight for most of the match. As regulation time wound down Rafinha went into the area and after looking for a penalty was shown a yellow card for simulation. However in the final moments Manuel Neuer saved the day as he stopped Youssef Mohamad's point blank effort and giving Schalke the 1-0 win.


Photo Credit: Schalke 04 (Copyright: firo sportphoto)