Week 21 - Match report
Freiburg stalemate delivers another argument for chip in ball
After the scoreless draw at SC Freiburg it would have been easy to pin responsibility on the referee, who failed to allow a Marcelo Bordon goal, for his side's failure to win. Schalke manager Felix Magath refused to do so, however.
"Last week a controversial decision went our way," he said, referring to the penalty that was denied TSG Hoffenheim. "This time one went against us. Over the course of a season these things even themselves out." Magath took this philosophical view after television replays had confirmed initial impressions that Marcelo Bordon's close-range header had come down over the line before bouncing back into play.
Freiburg coach Robin Dutt added his own 'win some, lose some' story, saying: "Last week in Leverkusen we had a similar situation where we weren't given a goal." Leaving the goal aside, Dutt felt it had been an even game. "We put in a very good performance for 90 minutes against a top side," he said.
From the Schalke viewpoint only the first part was true. The Royal Blues failed to get into the game at all in the first half. Unsettled by the home side's pressing tactics, they produced a string of misplaced passes and were sluggish mentally, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and the central defensive pairing of Marcelo Bordon and Benedikt Höwedes proving the only exceptions. That the scores remained level at half-time was largely down to this trio, though Mohamadou Idrissou did hit the bar four minutes before the break. This came after Kevin Kuranyi had almost given the Royal Blues the lead at the other end, but his 32nd minute header came back off the post. 
After the interval and Bordon's not-given goal the Royal Blues gained better control of the proceedings but never really convinced. Neither Kuranyi nor Jefferson Farfan, who was rested in the first half due to a cold, Lukas Schmitz or Ivan Rakitic were able to take the opportunities that came as a result of their domination.
"All in all I'm not totally happy with the outcome of the game," admitted Magath afterwards. "Though Freiburg were better in the first half, we came more into it in the second and had more chances than they did." Asked about the Bordon goal, Magath emphasised his general point of view, saying: "The football authorities continue to believe they can manage without things like a chip in the ball. Otherwise we would all know now whether it was in or not." One thing was certain in Freiburg, though. Three points had been there for the taking.
SC Freiburg (0) 0 Schalke 04 (0) 0
Freiburg: Pouplin - Williams, Toprak, Butscher, Bastians - Flum, Schuster (Banovic 71') - Cha, Makiadi - Cisse (Reisinger 88'), Idrissou
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Höwedes, Bordon, Schmitz - Matip, Moritz (Ibraimi 77') - Baumjohann (Farfan 53'), Rakitic, Sanchez - Kuranyi
Referee: Drees (Münster-Sarmsheim)
Attendance: 24,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Williams - Baumjohann, Schmitz (2), Rakitic (2)
