Match report - Week 1

Schalke suffer 3-0 reverse at Stuttgart

The Royal Blues kicked off the 2011/12 Bundesliga campaign with a defeat, going down 3-0 at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon. Cacau (37'), Martin Harnik (56') and Shinji Okazaki (89') scored for the hosts at the Mercedes Benz Arena.

Head coach Ralf Rangnick made two changes to side that secured a comfortable 11-1 victory at FC Teningen in the DFB Cup. Ralf Fährmann recovered from injury to replace Lars Unnerstall in goal, while Jermaine Jones came in for Julian Draxler, whose position was taken by Lewis Holtby. Jones slotted into a holding midfield role alongside Joel Matip.

The match at Stuttgart's revamped stadium started with both sides on equal terms. The first incident of note came in the ninth minute when Christian Gentner went on a run towards the Schalke goal before going to ground in a challenge with Benedikt Höwedes. Referee Wolfgang Stark correctly adjudged there had been no physical contact, however, and booked Gentner for simulation.

Schalke threatened the home side's goal for the first time on 16 minutes from a set piece. Christian Fuchs struck an accurate free-kick from well outside the box, but Stuttgart keeper Sven Ulreich was able to block the shot and the ball was cleared. Sixty seconds later Alexander Baumjohann screwed a shot wide of the far post from an inside-left position. Fährmann was called into action at the other end on 20 minutes when he confidently hung on to a long free-kick by Tamas Hajnal that had been flicked on by Cacau.

The entertainment value remained high and on 25 minutes Kyriakos Papadopoulos headed a Baumjohann free-kick just past the post. Moments later Raul headed inches wide of the target, Baumjohann again the provider. But it was the home side who took the lead on 37 minutes. Hajnal's corner was headed goalwards by Maza and Cacau glanced the ball into the net with his head from close range. Stuttgart almost doubled their lead a minute before half-time when a mistake by Höwedes allowed Cacau to send Martin Harnik clear. But the Austrian was denied by an alert Fährmann in the resulting one-on-one.

Rangnick made one change at the break, introducing Draxler in place of Matip. The 17-year-old midfielder had the opening chance five minutes after the restart with a shot that dipped and curled and had Ulreich stretching to turn away for a corner. Almost immediately Stuttgart popped up dangerously in front of the Schalke goal. Fährmann thwarted Harnik once again and Cacau put the rebound wide of the upright.

There was nothing the Schalke keeper could do on 56 minutes, however. Hajnal played a quick free-kick to Cristian Molinaro, who dispatched the ball into the goal area for Harnik to head home. Despite the two-goal deficit the Royal Blues refused to let their heads drop. Within five minutes of the goal Fuchs teed up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in a central position, only for Ulreich to make the save. Jones chanced his arm from outside the area two minutes later, but he too was unable to find the net. At the other end Cacau sent a diving header just wide of the right-hand post on 65 minutes.

The next opportunity for Schalke fell to Jan Moravek with 15 minutes left. The Czech international met a whipped-in ball from Draxler, but Ulreich was well positioned to protect his clean sheet. Soon after the Stuttgart stopper was again on hand to keep out a Huntelaar header.

Five minutes from the end the home side went close again when substitute Ibrahima Traore found Gentner, who tried to outsmart Fährmann with a lob. But his effort went unrewarded, coming down wide of the target and rolling safely out of play. Stuttgart still had time to add a third goal, however, when Shinji Okazaki hit a brilliant left-foot shot into the far corner.

Stuttgart: Ulreich - Boulahrouz, Tasci, Maza, Molinaro - Kvist, Kuzmanovic - Harnik (Traore 72'), Hajnal (Okazaki 79'), Gentner - Cacau (Pogrebnyak 84')
Schalke: Fährmann - Höger, Höwedes, Papadopoulos, Fuchs - Jones, Matip (Draxler 46') - Baumjohann (Moravek 68'), Raul, Holtby (Edu 65') - Huntelaar
Goals: 1-0 Cacau (37'), 2-0 Harnik (56'), 3-0 Okazaki (89')
Referee: Stark (Ergolding)
Attendance: 60,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Gentner - Papadopoulos