week 20 - match report

Schalke slip to 2-1 defeat against Wolfsburg

"Winning would have been a big step towards consolidating our position at the top end of the table", said Mirko Slomka after the final whistle. And it looked as if the Royal Blues would take it when Vicente Sanchez put them in front against VfL Wolfsburg. But the visitors then took advantage of two lapses in concentration to secure a 2-1 victory and end Schalke's recent run of form.

By half-time it was clear that Schalke would have a tough job extending this run, which had seen them win five of their previous six Bundesliga outings. Despite the pressing tactics of the visitors, the Royal Blues played some bold attacking football and looked especially dangerous whenever they came down the flanks. Yet the best of the chances that followed were squandered by Gerald Asamoah (7') and Kevin Kuranyi (25' and 33').

"The first half wasn't really that good but we remained calm", said Slomka. "We set out to create more chances and then take one, which we did." But not before they had wasted a golden opportunity when Ivan Rakitic put Kuranyi and Peter Lovenkrands through on goal on the hour. The Schalke centre forward made a complete mess of his attempted square pass to the Dane. Slomka said: "We can bemoan the fact that we missed lots of chances. Obviously the focus is on Kevin, but his goals will win us games again in future."

To the relief of the home crowd Schalke did eventually take the lead on 65 when Vicente Sanchez, having only just come on, reacted first to Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio's parry and smashed home the rebound. "It's all the more disappointing that we were unable to extend our lead or at least hang on to it", regretted Slomka. "Unfortunately we have a habit of surrendering leads."

And so it was this time. Grafite's 73rd minute equaliser came about because the Royal Blues failed to spot the threat posed by Christian Gentner's run down the right until it was too late. "After they equalised we lost our composure somewhat and then the penalty killed us off", explained Slomka, referring to the key moment of the game in the 84th minute. Though Schalke had defenders to spare, Edin Dzeko suddenly popped up alone in front of Manuel Neuer and was brought down by the keeper. As in the cup-tie against the same opponents two weeks ago, it was left to a penalty-kick to decide the outcome, and Grafite made no mistake from the spot for the visitors.

"Schalke should have scored a few more. They had some great chances", acknowledged Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath. "So in that respect 2-1 is a flattering win for us, even though we did our bit to earn it in the closing stages. I'm not going to apologise for winning, but I wish Schalke more luck in the Champions League."

Schalke: Neuer– Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann – Ernst, Kobiashvili (Streit 81') – Rakitic (Ze Roberto 87') – Lovenkrands (Sanchez 62') - Asamoah, Kuranyi
Wolfsburg: Benaglio – Ricardo Costa (Dzeko 78'), Simunek, Madlung, Schäfer – Gentner, Josue, Santana (Hasebe 61') – Marcelinho (Riether 83') – Dejagah, Grafite
Referee: Kempter (Sauldorf)
Goals: 1-0 Sanchez (65'), 1-1 Grafite (73'), 1-2 Grafite (84'/penalty)
Attendance: 60,387
Yellow cards: Rakitic, Neuer – Ricardo Costa (2), Dejagah (3)