Saturday, March 14, 2009

Wolfsburg win scoring duel over Schalke

Heading into the match, fans of defensive play knew the Wolfsburg and Schalke would once again pitch the question of how a top defending side would do against one of pure attacking lust. Without fail the match answered that question, albeit temporarily as Wolfsburg lambasted the troubled side from Gelsenkirchen 4-3. With the victory Felix Magath’s side continue to apply pressure on Hertha Berlin as they are now only a point from the top spot.

Following a week in which Sporting Director Andreas Müller was let go after spending over twenty years with the club, tension ran high as angered supporters were looking for an immediate response. And while Königsblauen supporters were rewarded with an early lead, they suffered through their worst defensive match of the year. Schalke took the one goal advantage nine minutes in as Jermaine Jones took advantage of lax Wolfsburg defending and launched a long ball to Heiko Westermann with the German international volleying in. However the attacking pulse of Wolfsburg wasn’t even remotely shaken or stirred and after a few threatening launches were the beneficiary of a penalty being awarded as Ivan Rakitić brought down Grafite in the area five minutes before the half hour mark. With the match now drawn level Volkswagen Arena thirsted for more goals and cutting the Schalke midfield apart on a number of occasions finally found the go-ahead goal one minute before the break as Grafite turned provider as he crossed to Bosnia and Herzegovina international Edin Džeko for a professional finish. At the restart Wolfsburg sensed a bloodied opposition and hunted for the killing stroke. Chances came and chances went without a mark and with less than twenty minutes remaining the visiting sides were only down by one. That all changed with sixteen minutes remaining as the other half of Wolfsburg Bosnian connection, Zvjezdan Misimović, dispatched the ball to Grafite who subsequently fought off a Schalke defender before sending the ball in. The visitors received a lifeline to minutes later as Jermaine Jones brought the match to within one only two minutes later as he struck from twelve metres out. Using a “best defending is a good attack” approach Wolfsburg continued to probe fore goals and Grafite found his third of the night with five minutes remaining as he poached on a close range opportunity and whilst Kevin Kurányi found a late goal, it was too little, too late and Wolfsburg was victorious 4-3.