week 22 - match report
Schalke sunk by "world-class goal"
Schalke went into the game against Bayern Munich with high hopes, but ultimately lacked conviction and slipped to a 1-0 home defeat, their third Bundesliga reverse in succession.
A number of changes had been on the cards and these were reflected in Mirko Slomka's starting line-up. Vicente Sanchez was handed his full first-team debut in a 4-3-3 formation and played for an hour before going off with stomach trouble after an hour. Carlos Grossmüller assumed the role of the suspended Jermaine Jones. "Ahead of the game it was clear that we needed to take some brave decisions", the Schalke boss said, hoping his players would see the clash with the league leaders as a chance to turn things round in the Bundesliga.
The Royal Blues certainly made a courageous start. "Schalke desperately wanted to win", confirmed Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. "But the game went really well for us. As the away side we stayed solid and gave Schalke very little space. We also had the good fortune to go in front." After some promising openings for the Royal Blues and a fine effort by Franck Ribery in the opening stages the France international was responsible for the key moment of the game in the 14th minute when he instigated a lightning-fast one-two before setting up the only goal of the game for Miroslav Klose. "That really was world-class", conceded Slomka, "but the goal was like poison for us".
Having gained the advantage Bayern operated as every away team does in the Bundesliga. "It allowed us to sit back and let our opponents come at us while we waited for a chance to break", said Hitzfeld. Bayern's slick and imaginative counterthrusts were a constant source of danger for a Schalke side striving to mount a threat of their own on the Bayern goal. "We didn't create a single chance in the first half", said Slomka, perhaps a little too critically in view of a 33rd minute effort from Heiko Westermann that almost sneaked in after deflecting off Lucio. "We could have got more out of the game if we had shown more determination at set pieces", he continued. But the better chances fell to the visitors through Klose and Ribery, who both drew excellent saves from Manuel Neuer.
The pattern remained much the same in the second half. "We were very mobile but achieved very little, though we were up against a very good Bayern side", said Slomka of his team's vain attempts to reverse the deficit. A second goal for Bayern looked far more likely than a Schalke equaliser. "We launched some very good counterattacks but I wasn't at all happy with our finishing", said a frustrated Ottmar Hitzfeld. "As a result we were on tenterhooks right until the end because Schalke showed great morale and would have deserved a draw."
Yet the equaliser failed to materialise, despite two great opportunities for Marcelo Bordon and Rafinha. At the other end Neuer made a string of fine saves and enjoyed the luck of the brave when a Daniel van Buyten effort struck the crossbar. And so not even a goalkeeper in fine form could prevent Bayern from securing their first win in Gelsenkirchen since 1998.
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann - Grossmüller, Ernst - Rakitic (Halil Altintop 61') - Asamoah, Kuranyi, Sanchez (Ze Roberto 61')
Bayern: Kahn - Lell, Lucio, Van Buyten, Jansen - Demichelis - Hamit Altintop, Schweinsteiger, Ribery (Ottl 78') - Klose (Schlaudraff 84'), Toni
Referee: Fandel (Kyllburg)
Goal: 0-1 Klose (14')
Attendance: 61,482 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Rafinha (5), Ernst (5) - Lell (4), Jansen
