week 8 - match report

"Superb goals" see Schalke to 2-1 win over Hannover

Effective finishing before the break and strong nerves in the closing stages saw Schalke to a 2-1 home win over Hannover 96 thanks to goals from Zlatan Bajramovic and Levan Kobiashvili. The win leaves the Royal Blues in second place in the table, level on points with league leaders Werder Bremen. In his post-match analysis head coach Mirko Slomka praised his side's first-half performance, in particular.

Slomka made just one change to the side that won in Hamburg last week, Tim Hoogland coming into central defence in place of injured skipper Marcelo Bordon to make his fourth Bundesliga appearance. Lincoln took over the captain's armband.

Though Hannover made the more fluent start to the game, the Royal Blues soon got into their stride, and it was they who carved out the first shooting opportunity through Kevin Kuranyi. By half-time Schalke were 2-0 up, a lead that came about because they defended soundly, denied the visitors a single attempt on goal, showed great concentration in the tackle and looked to keep the tempo high and play fast, first-touch football. They also took virtually all of their chances, Zlatan Bajramovic (17') and Levan Kobiashvili (27') both playing themselves through to notch their first league goals of the season.

"We didn't start too well, but then we began to win the key tackles and scored two superb goals", said Slomka in praise of his side's first-half showing. "Unfortunately we fell back into our old habits at times after the break." This was certainly one of the reasons why the Lower Saxony outfit were able to take their one and only chance of the game in the 52nd minute, when Jan Rosenthal pulled one back to make it 2-1. Schalke had just one more opportunity to settle it, but after Kuranyi had directed his header wide, the Royal Blues were able to see the game out. "It would have been nicer if we'd won 2-0. As it was, you always had the feeling something might happen", said Slomka. But a focused defensive performance ensured that Hannover were unable to fashion any more chances. "I'm satisfied with the result for this reason, but I'm not entirely happy with the 90 minutes."

Hannover coach Dieter Hecking did not mince his words afterwards, saying: "We started well, but if you think you can do well in Schalke simply by playing football, if you fail to win a single tackle between the 10th and the 45th minutes and if you gift the opposition their goals, you shouldn't be surprised to find yourself 2-0 down." Though things had improved after the interval, "we didn't push hard enough for the equaliser. We have to be more physical away from home, Schalke showed us how to do it today between the 10th and 45th minutes."

Schalke: Rost - Rafinha, Rodriguez, Hoogland, Krstajic - Hamit Altintop (Varela 84'), Bajramovic, Kobiashvili - Lincoln - Halil Altintop (Boenisch 90'+1), Kuranyi (Lovenkrands 72')

Hannover: Enke - Cherundolo, Fahrenhorst, Zuraw, Tarnat (Jendrisek 80') - Vinicius (Schröter 66'), Balitsch (Yankov 46') - Rosenthal, Huszti - Stajner, Hashemian

Goals: 1-0 Bajramovic (18'), 2-0 Kobiashvili (27'), 2-1 Rosenthal (52')

Attendance: 61,031

Referee: Dr Helmut Fleischer (Sigmertshausen)

Yellow cards: Bajramovic (3), Rodriguez (3), Lincoln (2) - Balitsch, Fahrenhorst (2), Tarnat, Stajner (2)