DFB-Pokal
round 1 - report

DFB-Pokal
Royal Blues through to DFB Cup 2nd round

Four goals against fifth-tier outfit Germania Windeck saw the Royal Blues deservedly go through to the second round of the DFB Cup at the RheinEnergie Stadium on Saturday evening. Carlos Zambrano (10'), Kevin Kuranyi (43'), Levan Kenia (68') and Benedikt Höwedes (85') were the scorers.

Schalke took up residence in their opponents' half from the outset, with Lewis Holtby and Rafinha providing plenty of pace down the flanks. And with ten minutes gone they took the lead from their first set piece. Germania keeper Maurice Gillen failed to get a hand to Ivan Rakitic's left-sided free-kick, allowing Heiko Westermann to head the ball on to Peru international Carlos Zambrano, who won the aerial duel to head the Royal Blues in front on his first-team debut.

The Royal Blues continued to be untroubled at the back, but going forward they made too many errant passes to create any clear-cut openings. With just over half an hour gone, Felix Magath's men perked up a little. Lewis Holtby whipped in a cross and Gillen managed to turn the ball away just as Kevin Kuranyi was about to head home. Five minutes later Rakitic curled in a free-kick from the left, but Marcelo Bordon's diving header flew wide of the left-hand upright.

Schalke now tried their luck with a series of long balls. Zambrano floated a pass forward to Kuranyi, who controlled the ball on the turn and jinked past Alexander Gröger before shooting agonisingly wide of the Windeck goal. A similar situation arose three minutes later, but this time it was Rafinha who sought out Kuranyi with a long ball. Michael Reed misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Kuranyi to chest it down and rifle a shot into the net from just inside the box.

After the interval the first chance fell to Germania. Heiko Westermann gave the ball away in his own penalty area, presenting Thomas Meiss with an opportunity to shoot, but he recovered in time to deflect the shot for a corner. Otherwise the Royal Blues carried on where they had left off in the first 45 minutes and pushed forward unrelentingly. In the 61st minute Höwedes played a neat one-two with Kuranyi before hitting a shot at Gillen, but Halil Altintop was unable to convert the rebound. Six minutes later Alexander Gröger handled the ball in his own area, and referee Jochen Drees pointed to the spot. Rakitic took the penalty, but Gillen made the save.

Within 60 seconds, however, substitute Levan Kenia had everyone forgetting the miss with a tremendously taken goal. The Georgian drove past Andy Habl before bending a delicious shot past Reed and Gillen and into the top-left corner from the edge of the area. Kuranyi almost made it 4-0 four minutes later, heading Rafinha's right-sided cross just over the left-hand angle of post and bar. With five minutes left, though, the Schalke striker earned plaudits as a provider, crossing from the right to allow Höwedes to head home from five metres. Germania almost grabbed a consolation goal two minutes from time, but Sebastian Hecht's shot came back off the inside of the post, leaving Schalke's four-goal margin intact until the end.

Windeck: Gillen (Cibulla 76') - Jörgens, Gröger, Reed, Tuysuz - Habl, Grebe, Hayer, Meiss (Hecht 63'), Glowacz - Schoof (Kessel 52')
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Höwedes, Bordon, Zambrano - Holtby, Westermann, Rakitic, Pliatsikas (Kenia 46') - Kuranyi, Altintop
Goals: 0-1 Zambrano (10'), 0-2 Kuranyi (43'), 0-3 Kenya (68'), 0-4 Höwedes (86')
Yellow card: Tuysuz
Attendance: 16,000
Referee: Drees (Mainz)
Incidents of note: Gillen saves Rakitic penalty (67')