week 10 - match report
Schalke held to 1-1 draw in Rostock
The Royal Blues dominated more than half the game at Hansa Rostock and were well worth their lead through Gerald Asamoah. But a "serious mistake" cost Schalke an important victory away from home as the match ended 1-1.
Head coach Mirko Slomka made two changes to the side that lost at home to Karlsruhe last time out, the experienced Dario Rodriguez coming in for youngster Benedikt Höwedes at left-back and fellow Uruguay international Carlos Grossmüller starting in midfield in place of Ivan Rakitic. "Carlos deserved it after some very good work in training and I think he played well", the Schalke boss said after the final whistle.
The same could be said for the whole team in the first half. "We had the game well under control, were very solid at the back and created a number of openings", explained Slomka before concluding: "We therefore deserved to take the lead." Gerald Asamoah converted one of four genuine chances with a fine first-time effort to make it 1-0 after 33 minutes.
The home side had no such opportunities, though Victor Agali did find himself in a promising position on one occasion before being checked by Marcelo Bordon, a foul that earned the Schalke skipper a booking (28'). "I thought we'd do a lot more going forward before the break. But most of our passing play took place in our own half. We struggled to get the ball into our opponents' half", said Hansa coach Frank Pagelsdorf, highlighting the deficits in his side's play before the interval.
After the restart it looked as if things would continue in the same vein until Rostock's Marc Stein intercepted Manuel Neuer's attempted underarm throw out to Rafinha and poked the ball into the empty net for the equaliser (56'). "It was a serious mistake, the game turned totally after that", said Slomka. The unexpected equaliser gave the home side a massive lift. "We showed far more courage and purpose going forward", said a delighted Pagelsdorf. They did so to such effect that Neuer had to pull off a great save to prevent his side from going behind on 66, when he deflected Rahn's blockbuster from just outside the box onto the crossbar.
But apart from a dubious penalty claim by the home side after a tussle between Bordon and Kern and a foul by Agali on the Brazilian that went unpunished, that was that as far the action was concerned. "At the end of the day you have to take the two halves together. So the draw is a fair result", said Pagelsdorf - and Slomka was forced to agree.
Rostock: Wächter - Langen, Sebastian, Orestes, Stein - Kern, Bülow (Beinlich 90'+2), Rathgeb, Rahn - Agali, Hähnge (Dorn 57')
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Westermann, Bordon, Rodriguez - Jones, Ernst, Bajramovic (Rakitic 84') - Grossmüller - Asamoah (Larsen 76'), Kuranyi
Goals: 0:1 Asamoah (33'), 1-1 Stein (56')
Referee: Sippel (Munich)
Attendance: 29,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Langen (2), Kern (3), Hähnge, Agali (2) - Bordon (3), Kuranyi (2)
