week 27 - match report

Schalke maintain lead at top despite 2-0 Bayern defeat

FC Schalke 04 slipped to a 2-0 defeat in the Bundesliga match of the day at Bayern Munich on Saturday afternoon. Roy Makaay (3') and Hasan Salihamidzic (78') got the goals in front of a sell-out 69,000 crowd. Despite the defeat the Royal Blues held on to their lead top of the table after chasers Werder Bremen were held to a scoreless draw in Cottbus.

Head coach Mirko Slomka made just one change to the side that beat VfB Stuttgart 1-0 at the VELTINS Arena last week, Peter Lovenkrands returning from injury to replace Mesut Özil in a 4-3-3 system. But the Royal Blues got off to the worst possible start when Roy Makaay ran onto a pass from fellow Dutchman Mark van Bommel to fire an unstoppable shot past Manuel Neuer after just three minutes. "We came with high hopes but the early goal made a huge dent in our concept.  We had to readjust, but we did it too late to be effective", explained Slomka.

Buoyed by the early lead Bayern were able to control the play, with the Royal Blues struggling to put any telling moves together. The final ball to the strikers was lacking, and as a result they were unable to threaten the home side's goal. Schalke came more into it from around the 25 minute mark, with Christian Pander, in particular, applying pressure down the left-hand side. Yet a header from Zlatan Bajramovic was the only Schalke chance in the first half. To make matters worse, the Royal Blues lost Peter Lovenkrands with an ankle injury in the 35th minute. Bayern continued to threaten with their fast attacking play, forcing Neuer into several excellent saves.

After the restart Bayern carved out a number of decent opportunities, but both Makaay and Lukas Podolski were denied by the outstanding Neuer. And while Schalke were now showing more aggression, they still had no joy in front of the Bayern goal. "We weren't precise, assured or determined enough going forward", said Slomka afterwards.

And there was controversy in the 67th minute when referee Herbert Fandel elected to show Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn just a yellow card after the former Germany keeper had grabbed Soren Larsen by the throat and wrestled him to the ground from a corner.

The game was settled twelve minutes from time when Salihamidzic found the net from nine metres after being fed by Lucio. Schalke threw everyone forward in an attempt to rescue at least a point, but their efforts were in vain. Despite the defeat the Royal Blues still head the table with a two-point lead over Werder Bremen.

Schalke 04: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Pander - Bajramovic (Özil 65'), Ernst, Kobiashvili - Halil Altintop (Asamoah 74'), Kuranyi, Lovenkrands (Larsen 35')

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio (Demichelis 85'), van Buyten, Lahm - Salihamidzic, Ottl, Schweinsteiger (Lell 87'), van Bommel - Podolski, Makaay (Pizarro 71')

Goals: 1-0 Makaay (3'), 2-0 Salihamidzic (78')

Yellow cards: Krstajic, Ernst, Rafinha - Sagnol, Kahn