week 21 - match report
Royal Blues step up pace in second half to beat Hertha 2-0
A crucial 2-0 victory over Hertha BSC Berlin at the VELTINS Arena on Saturday afternoon left the fans convinced that the Royal Blues are on the way to the league title. Schalke's eighth home win of the season was hard work, but no more than they deserved. "We earned it thanks to a strong performance in the second half when we put them under significant pressure with our fast attacking football", said head coach Mirko Slomka.
Just in case anyone in the 61,482 sell-out crowd had forgotten that the Berlin side had won the reverse fixture, they were given an early reminder in the sixth minute: "If Manuel Neuer hadn't pulled off a world-class save to keep out a header from Gimenez, we'd have found ourselves behind early on", said Slomka in praise of his 20-year-old keeper. And Neuer reacted brilliantly again on 12 to foil Marko Pantelic.
Schalke eventually got into their stride, though. Peter Lovenkrands missed a golden opportunity in the 38th minute, and two minutes before the break Kevin Kuranyi was out of luck when Pal Dardai cleared his header off the line. "We'd found our feet by the closing stages of the first half and started to put them under a lot of pressure", said Slomka.
It was the half-time team talk that made the difference. "We said we had to win the challenges in our own half by showing even more commitment and passion", explained Slomka. An instruction the players put into practice with impressive results. "Schalke really stepped up the pace after the break and there was nothing we could do to ease the pressure", conceded Hertha coach Falko Götz. The Royal Blues had already created a string of chances before Kuranyi eventually gave them the lead in the 64th when he headed home Lincoln's corner.
The Schalke fans had their hearts in their mouths on 71 when Dario Rodriguez had to dive in at the last moment to divert Ashkan Dejagah's shot for a corner, but they were celebrating again five minutes later when Lovenkrands finished off a counter-attack at the second attempt. "Apart from the first 20 minutes we dominated the game and deserved the goals in the second half", said Zlatan Bajramovic, accurately summing up his side's first home win over Hertha in almost three years. The fact that second-placed Werder Bremen lost 4-1 at VfB Stuttgart made it a perfect day for the Royal Blues.
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon (86. Hoogland), Krstajic, Rodriguez - Ernst, Bajramovic, Varela (Halil Altintop 71') - Lincoln - Kuranyi, Lovenkrands (Hamit Altintop 81')
Berlin: Fiedler - J. Boateng, Friedrich, van Burik, Fathi - Dardai - Dejagah (Ebert 72'), Mineiro (Ede 67'), Gilberto - Pantelic, Gimenez (C. Müller 80')
Referee: Weiner (Giesen)
Goals: 1-0 Kuranyi (64'), 2-0 Lovenkrands (75')
Attendance: 61,482 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Lovenkrands - Gimenez, Gilberto, Pantelic, J. Boateng
