week 17 - match report

Schalke hang on to victory over Nürnberg

"It was a lucky win", said coach Mirko Slomka after the 2-1 success over 1. FC Nürnberg. Neverthess, the three points put the Royal Blues back on the road to achieving their own target for the Bundesliga season.

Mladen Krstajic, Ivan Rakitic and Jermaine Jones all returned from suspension for the visit of Nürnberg, Dario Rodriguez and Zlatan Bajramovic dropping to the bench. Carlos Grossmüller is suspended and was therefore unavailable.

Schalke got off to just the kind of start they would have wanted: "We began very well, we were assured on the ball and scored two fine goals", analysed Slomka. "I particularly liked the first goal because we opened them up down the flank." The resulting cross from Heiko Westermann was headed home by Gerald Asamoah (14'). And when Marco Engelhardt put through his own net to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute it seemed as if the game was almost over as a contest, particularly as Nürnberg managed just one (harmless) effort before the break.

"In the second half it would perhaps be an exaggeration to say we played Schalke off the park, but we did cause them a lot of difficulty", said Nürnberg boss Hans Meyer afterwards. A viewpoint Slomka could not contest: " Nürnberg completey controlled the second half. We were unable to contain Misimovic after he switched to the left-hand side."

The gifted Nürnberg midfielder was a constant threat, especially after Angelos Charisteas had headed the visitors back into it on 55, and hit the post himself with a 65th minute free-kick. "After we got one back it was like our home game against Hertha BSC Berlin. One team finds an extra ten percent, while the other gets increasingly nervous", explained Meyer.

This was compounded by another factor: "We wanted to add a third goal, but failed to do so despite some incredible chances on the break", said Slomka. Yet Slomka wasn't referring to the opportunity for Halil Altintop, who bore down on goal with two team-mates by his side only to rush his shot and put the ball wide. "That chance came about more by coincidence, but we had a number of situations in midfield where we could have played a pass. We simply didn't show enough composure in our passing play."

And in stoppage time there was a contentious situation as far as Nürnberg was concerned when Marek Mintal hit the post under a challenge from Krstajic that the visitors felt was a foul, but their claims for a penalty were waved away. "We've not exactly been blessed with luck this autumn", said Meyer. "We deserved a point. I just hope our luck improves after the mid-season break." The Royal Blues were therefore able to celebrate a win that puts them just three points short of a Champions League place. It also means they are within reach of achieving their objective for the season, so the prospects for 2008 are not that bad at all.

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann - Ernst, Jones - Rakitic (Bajramovic 75'), Özil (Altintop 61') - Asamoah (Lovenkrands 88'), Kuranyi
Nürnberg: Blazek - Reinhardt, Wolf, Beauchamp, Engelhardt (Mnari 63') - Galasek (Glauber 39'), Kluge - Charisteas, Misimovic, Adler (Sajenko 46') - Mintal
Referee: Weiner (Giesen)
Goals: 1-0 Asamoah (14'), 2-0 Engelhardt (o.g. 35'), 2-1 Charisteas (55')
Attendance: 61,482 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Ernst (3), Rafinha (3) - Wolf (4), Kluge (5/1), Charisteas