Rückschlag

Die Geißböcke suffered a difficult to digest 1-0 loss to Schalke in Gelsenkirchen Friday evening. While it is a hard to pinpoint fault in the match Köln had ample opportunities to come out with a draw, if not a win and will rue poor finishing.

With Youssef Mohamad back in for Kevin McKenna die Geißböcke were showing quality defending in the early stages of the match. However less than a quarter of the hour in though the tide had turned and Schalke was commanding the run of play. Heiko Westermann's athleticism was creating a series of problems and once the home side started to play wider, Köln's defense opened up. Schalke's first chance came as Jefferson Farfán's free kick into the box was headed back by Westermann to Ivan Rakitić but Marvin Matip got in front of a high risk chance. Six minutes before the half hour Milivoje Novakovič struck a text-book free kick from thirty metres around the wall but it trailed off just too much to the left. The missed opportunity cost dearly as a few minutes later Schalke grabbed the lead taking advantage of a long channel attack. After Kevin Kurányi chased down a long ball, he provided the ball to Vicente Sánchez in the box. Sending a back heel to Ivan Rakitić, who then laid the ball back to Jermaine Jones the score was quickly 1-0 as the German international fired into the net. Coming back quickly Petit's speculative effort stung Schalke 'keeper Manuel Neuer's mitts but couldn't find the needed mark. As the half wound down Faryd Mondragón saved Kurányi drive from the six yard box and while the rebound banged off the striker in, it was called back as a hand ball.

After the restart the situation changed considerably and Schalke no longer dictated play. In the first ten minutes Petit continued to create problems and five minutes in can close as his free kick was just sent off-course by Milivoje Novakovič. On the hour die Geißböcke should have leveled the match when Petit's free kick was flicked the back post by Novakovič and from a metre out Youssef Mohamad forgot fundamentals and missed the ball. Needing attacking vision Christoph Daum sent for Taner Yalcin three minutes past the hour and only four minutes later Fabrice Ehret's through ball to Milivoje Novakovič was saved with last minute work by Vicente Sánchez. Entering the match in the final stages, Kevin McKenna and Manasseh Ishiaku went looking for the equalizer and two minutes into added time Youssef Mohamad had another chance but again he couldn't find the net as the sixth match unbeaten string ended with a 1-0 loss.