week 22 - match report

Kuranyi brace not enough as Schalke draw 2-2 in Wolfsburg

The Royal Blues had to settle for a point in Wolfsburg after conceding the equaliser with a minute left to play. It was an unfortunate end to the game for Mirko Slomka's men, who had gone ahead thanks to two first-half strikes from Kevin Kuranyi (11' and 29'), only to be pulled back as Diego Klimowicz found the net twice after the break (57' and 89'). Things were made worse by the loss of Levan Kobiashvili to suspension and Peter Lovenkrands, who sustained a ligament injury.

Although the late equaliser was annoying, Slomka was unwilling to attach to much importance to the draw in the context of his side's objectives for the season. "We're still top and are five points in front of the team in second", he said. The Schalke boss felt the 28,346 fans had seen a game of two contrasting halves, and as such was able to live with the draw: "We've picked up a point away from home. Sometimes you have to be happy with that."

Slomka made just one change to the team that beat Hertha BSC Berlin 2-0 last week, bringing in Halil Altintop for the injured Gustavo Varela (cruciate ligament tear). And the Royal Blues carried on where they left off against Hertha. Schalke controlled the proceedings from the outset. Fabian Ernst and Zlatan won a lot of possession in defensive midfield and were quick to get the ball forward. "We dominated the game during this phase and deserved to go 2-0 up", said Slomka. "We had set out to defend solidly and launch rapid counterthrusts, a strategy that worked well before the interval."

Wolfsburg had little to offer in the first half and were forced to resort to long balls upfield that were easy meat for the Schalke defence. Marcelinho was largely anonymous. Only once was the Brazilian able to make his presence felt, slipping a neat through ball to Klimowicz, who was denied by Manuel Neuer (44').

The Royal Blues played some attracting passing football in the opening stages and deservedly went ahead after 11 minutes when Kuranyi headed home a Lovenkrands free-kick. And the Germany front man struck again 18 minutes later with a crisp drive from close range to make it 2-0, his eleventh goal of the season. But the pattern changed in the second half. Slomka was in no doubt as to the reasons why, saying: "For the one thing Wolfsburg scored too soon. Then we were badly affected by the loss of Peter Lovenkrands. Our fast counterattacking play suffered as a result." In addition, Wolfsburg keeper Simon Jentzsch pulled off a magnificent save to keep out Kuranyi's header in the 78th minute.

"If we'd gone 3-1 up at that stage, we'd have won the game", said Slomka. As it was, though, Marcelinho floated a free-kick into the box, as he had done for his side's first goal on 57, and Klimowicz got a slight touch on the ball to earn his side a rather fortunate point. "Wolfsburg are very good from set pieces, after all", said a disappointed Slomka after the final whistle. "In the normal passage of play nothing would have happened. But Wolfsburg were worth their point because they put us under a lot of pressure once they had pulled a goal back."
 
Wolfsburg: Jentzsch - Quiroga, Madlung, Möhrle, van der Heyden - van der Leegte - Menseguez (Makiadi 62'), Krzynowek (Hill 79') - Marcelinho - Hanke (Boakye 62'), Klimowicz
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Rodriguez (Hoogland 77') - Ernst, Bajramovic - Lincoln - Halil Altintop (Hamit Altintop 88'), Kuranyi, Lovenkrands (Kobiashvili 62')
Referee: Drees (Mainz)
Goals: 0-1 Kuranyi (10'), 0-2 Kuranyi (29'), 1-2 Klimowicz (56'), 2-2 Klimowicz (89')
Attendance: 28,346
Yellow cards: Marcelinho, Madlung, Quiroga - Halil Altintop, Kobiashvili