week 9 - match report
"Fortunate but effective" - Schalke win 2-1 in Stuttgart
The Royal Blues are slowly cementing their position at the top end of the table after a 2-1 success at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon, their third league win in a row. And of all places, they did it on one of their bogey grounds.
There isn't a team in the league against whom Schalke have won less often away from home than Stuttgart, with just three victories in 39 attempts. The last time the Royal Blues triumphed at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium was ten years ago to the day. So it was going to require something special if they were going to win there today.
Instead of sitting back, then, Schalke came out and played some bold, attacking football in the first half. And they had luck on their side in the 24th minute when Stefano Celozzi fluffed an attempted clearance, teeing the ball up for Ivan Rakitic. The Croatia international, back in the side after an absence of several weeks, accepted the gift gratefully, rifling a shot into the net to give Schalke the lead.
After going behind Stuttgart proved themselves worthy of the respect Felix Magath had showed them before the game when he said they would be back in the leading group by the end of the season. The home side carved out a number of chances, with Alexander Hleb, Sami Khedira and the industrious Cacau at the heart of much of their play. At the other end Jefferson Farfan and Rafinha provided Schalke's main attacking threat.
In the second half the 42,000 spectators saw the Royal Blues pinned back in their own half for long periods. And though Stuttgart fashioned several opportunities they denied them an equaliser for almost half an hour, until Cacau took advantage of a lapse in concentration to make it 1-1 on 73. It then seemed as if the game would go the way of so many others in Stuttgart. But with the home side looking likely to score at any moment, Kevin Kuranyi suddenly broke clear after being played onside by Serdar Tasci. And the former Stuttgart striker, who in four years as a Schalke player had never scored against his old club, did everything right, getting as close to the goal as possible and before unleashing a powerful shot into the far corner.
Kuranyi's first goal against Stuttgart ensured the Royal Blues collected their first win on the Neckar in ten years, despite having to survive one or two dangerous moments in the closing stages. That said, the ever impressive Farfan could quite easily added a third for Schalke. 
After tasting victory on his former stomping ground Felix Magath refused to get carried away, however. "We were very effective again and we're happy to have picked up a fortunate win", he said. "Though not much came off in attack, we were very good at the back. We need to try to maintain our good defensive form but clearly have to improve going forward."
Stuttgart boss Markus Babbel bemoaned the result, saying: "Apart from two individual mistakes I have no complaints with my team's display. Unfortunately these two mistakes led to the goals. Our performance today will give us confidence going into the difficult Champions League fixture against Sevilla, even if the Bundesliga table doesn't look very good at the moment." The win saw the Royal Blues tighten their grip on third place.
Stuttgart: Lehmann - Magnin, Boulahrouz, Tasci, Celozzi (Hilbert 65') - Khedira (Elson 78'), Hleb, Träsch, Kuzmanovic - Pogrebnyak (Schieber 61'), Cacau
Schalke: Neuer - Westermann, Bordon, Höwedes, Rafinha - Schmitz (Zambrano 46'), Rakitic (Kenia 63'), Mineiro, Moritz - Kuranyi, Farfan (Holtby 90')
Goals: 0-1 Rakitic (24'), 1-1 Cacau (73'), 1-2 Kuranyi (76')
Referee: Dr Brych (Munich)
Attendance: 42,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Magnin, Khedira, Cacau, Tasci - Mineiro, Moritz, Farfan
