week 31 - match report
Schalke held to 1-1 draw by Hannover
Schalke failed in their bid to keep up the pressure on second-placed Werder Bremen when they were held 1-1 at home by Hannover 96. The Royal Blues got off to a bad start and never really got going after that.
Caretaker bosses Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder were forced to make one change to the starting line-up, Ivan Rakitic coming in for Vicente Sanchez, who has a knee injury. Yet the change can hardly be blamed for the Royal Blues going behind to an early goal.
"Hannover played very well and we struggled to get into the game. You could say we weren't on the pitch in the opening stages", said Büskens. "We failed to close down the spaces and then battle our way into the game." With eight minutes gone Mike Hanke attempted to latch onto Arnold Bruggink's whipped-in free-kick. "I didn't get a touch on it", the former Schalke striker admitted later. But his efforts made it impossible for keeper Manuel Neuer to react any sooner and prevent the ball from finding its way into the net.
Having taken the lead the Lower Saxony outfit initially restricted themselves to making life difficult for the Royal Blues with some good defending. "We managed to keep Schalke away from our goal for quite a while", said Hannover coach Dieter Hecking in praise of his team. "And whenever they did get through Robert Enke made some outstanding saves." As in the 17th minute, when the Hannover keeper did brilliantly to turn Halil Altintop's volley over the bar.
Schalke looked the better side and got their reward five minutes before the interval when the best move of the game brought them an equaliser. Ivan Rakitic slipped the ball to Altintop, who received the ball at full pace, burst past the defenders and dinked a shot over Enke into the net. "We fought and worked very hard to create those chances", said Büskens after the final whistle.
After the restart it looked as if Schalke would go onto to win the game when they created several openings, including a golden opportunity for Rakitic and additional chances for Kuranyi and Altintop. But Hannover showed they were not to be discounted when Bruggink shot against the post on 56. Kuranyi and Westermann then went close with headers, yet for all their efforts, the longer the game went on, the less Schalke looked like getting the goal they so badly wanted. And with neither side able to fashion any more genuine chances, the game petered out into a 1-1 draw.
"I have to pay my players a compliment. People were saying we would just let the season run its course, but that's not in the character of this team", said a delighted Dieter Hecking. Mike Büskens summed up the point as follows: "A massive setback? I don't see it that negatively. At the end of the season we'll see how much this point is worth. We've come up against a very good team and we now have to make sure we pick up all three points in Bochum on Tuesday."
Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann - Ernst, Jones - Rakitic (Lovenkrands 80') - Altintop, Kuranyi, Streit (Asamoah 74')
Hannover: Enke - Cherundolo, Ismael, Vinicius, Schulz - Balitsch, Lala - Bruggink, Huszti (Lauth 90'+1) - Stajner (Rosenthal 84'), Hanke (Hashemian 78')
Referee: Wagner (Hofheim)
Goals: 0-1 Bruggink (8'), 1-1 Altintop (40')
Attendance: 61,482 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Krstajic (3) - Bruggink (5/1), Cherundolo (3), Balitsch (5/4), Rosenthal (4)
