week 14 - match report
Change of system sees Schalke win 3-2 in Hannover
Two strikes from Szabolcs Huszti were not enough to unsettle Schalke as a plucky performance and a change of system saw Mirko Slomka's men to a 3-2 win in Hannover. Kevin Kuranyi (2) and Halil Altintop got the goals for the Royal Blues, who moved ahead of the home side in the table to sixth place.
Mirko Slomka made four changes to the side that faced Hamburg in the Bundesliga two weeks ago. Marcelo Bordon returned to central defence after missing the Hamburg game through suspension. In midfield Fabian Ernst replaced the injured Jermaine Jones and in attack Kevin Kuranyi and Mesut Özil came in for Soren Larsen and Peter Lovenkrands. There was a tactical change as well: with Özil operating mainly from the right side of midfield the Royal Blues went with a 4-4-2 system. Ivan Rakitic provided the creative spark on the left of midfield.
"The changes did the team good", said a beaming Mirko Slomka after the final whistle. "In recent weeks we have lacked a bit of creativity and the final ball. Electing to go with two central strikers was exactly the right decision." The Royal Blues showed greater presence in midfield, winning lots of possession and getting the ball forward quickly.
As a result of their superiority, Schalke had a host of decent chances in the opening quarter of an hour. But neither Özil, Rakitic nor Kuranyi were able to convert. Slomka said: "That was the only thing that bothered me. Apart from that our passing play was superb."
So it came as something of a surprise when Hannover took the lead in the 16th minute. Szabolcs Huszti was blocked by Zlatan Bajramovic in the penalty area, and referee Günter Perl pointed to the spot. Huszti took the kick himself, scoring in the bottom right-hand corner. Afterwards Slomka was more concerned about the way the penalty came about rather than the foul by Bajramovic. Schalke had a free-kick in the Hannover half, but failed to cover for Rakitic, who was receiving treatment on the touchline, allowing the home side to launch the dangerous counterattack that led to the penalty. "That was really stupid", said Slomka.
The goal left Schalke stunned for some fifteen minutes, but then they turned on the turbo again. Kuranyi was at the centre of things on three separate occasions. After having a goal ruled out for offside, he then had a shot deflected before finally finding the net with a header from an Özil corner that Altin Lala was unable to prevent from crossing the line. "Despite going behind we never lost our composure. We carried on playing football instead of committing suicide and we got our reward", said a delighted Schalke boss.
Kuranyi added a second just after the restart. Özil floated in a cross to the back post, and the Germany striker was left with the easy task of knocking the ball over the line. But Huszti was not happy to leave it at one goal either, restoring parity for the home side on 53.
This time, however, the Royal Blues did not take as long to recover. After Ernst and Bajramovic had both gone close, substitute Halil Altintop was on hand to receive Kuranyi's long ball forward and make it 3-2 with a low drive from the edge of the area.
The onus was back on the home side, but they were unable to mount a serious threat on the Schalke goal. At the other end both Özil and Kuranyi wasted chances to put the result beyond doubt, the only danger for Manual Neuer stemming from a half-chance for Arnold Bruggink with six minutes left.
Hannover: Enke - Balitsch, Vinicius, Fahrenhorst, Tarnat - Lala (Hashemian 72'), Schulz - Rosenthal (Lauth 56'), Pinto (Bruggink 76'), Huszti - Hanke
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann - Ernst, Bajramovic - Rakitic (Azaouagh 86'), Özil - Asamoah (Altintop 46'), Kuranyi (Larsen 89')
Referee: Perl (Munich)
Goals: 1-0 Huszti (penalty/17'), 1-1 Kuranyi (41'), 1-2 Kuranyi (50'), 2-2 Huszti (53'), 2-3 Altintop (61')
Attendance: 49,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Hanke (2), Tarnat (3), Pinto (2) - Krstajic (2), Rafinha (2)
