week 13 - match report

Pander paves way to 4-2 win at Cottbus

"That was a great game for the fans!" A verdict Schalke coach Mirko Slomka found all the easier to pass on this turbulent match at Energie Cottbus having just seen his side come away from the Stadium of Friendship with a 4-2 win. Hamit Altintop and Kevin Kuranyi gave Schalke an early lead, only for Radu to restore parity with a double strike. Christian Pander then put the Royal Blues on the road to victory before Levan Kobiashvili finally sealed the win.

The Schalke boss made just one change to the side that beat Mainz at home last week, Zlatan Bajramovic returning from suspension to replace the injured Gustavo Varela. And the Royal Blues got off to an impressive start, going two up in the first 15 minutes through goals from Hamit Altintop and Kevin Kuranyi. It was a thoroughly deserved lead, especially as Pander had also hit the post in that opening spell. "At that stage of the game we were dictating things with some good one-touch football and got the two goals", commented Slomka later. A view shared by his opposite number, Petrik Sander. "We didn't want to give Schalke any space, especially behind our backline", the Cottbus coach said. "And we were far too open on the left-hand side, possibly out of exuberance."

Credit has to be given to Cottbus that the game was not over by then. "After going 2-0 down so quickly, you're normally dead and buried, but my team showed great passion and determination", said Sander. "We took an early lead, but then we let Cottbus impose their game on us", agreed Slomka, taking his turn to compliment the opposition. "They played it long and won a lot of second balls, so they deserved to level the scores", he conceded. Sergiu Radu was the man responsible for this with two goals in three minutes. It was an open game for the rest of the half, and either side could have gone in at half-time in front.

The question then was who would start the second half better. "During the interval we said we had to play our own game again and force Cottbus to run more", said Slomka. "The third goal swung it our way, and I was particularly pleased for Christian Pander following his long absence." Sander also acknowledged Schalke's second-half superiority. "It was down to their individual quality", he said. "We made too many mistakes today. So although we came back once, we just couldn't do it again." One situation angered the Cottbus coach, though. "We should have had a penalty for Krstajic's push on Kioyo", he complained. "That's the third penalty we've been denied this season!"

As it was, Schalke retained their composure and settled the game in the closing stages with a clever counterattack that was finished off by Kobiashvili. "Our play in the second half was very calm and collected", concluded Slomka. With VfB Stuttgart losing 2-1 at Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen drawing 2-2 in Aachen, Schalke got their reward for their third win in a row by climbing to the top of the table.

Cottbus: Piplica - Szelesi, McKenna, Mitreski, Ziebig - Rost (da Silva 80'), Kukielka - Radu, Shao (Baumgart 66'), Munteanu - Kioyo (Gunkel 76')

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Rodriguez, Krstajic, Pander (Boenisch 77') - Hamit Altintop, Bajramovic, Kobiashvili - Halil Altintop (Ernst 55'), Kuranyi, Lovenkrands (Heppke 90')

Goals: 0-1 Hamit Altintop (4'), 0-2 Kuranyi (15'), 1-2 Radu (28'), 2-2 Radu (31'), 2-3 Pander (51'), 2-4 Kobiashvili (83')

Attendance: 17,210

Referee: Fandel (Kyllburg)

Yellow cards: Kukielka