week 6 - match report

Schalke overpower Bielefeld in 3-0 win

Schalke were well worth their 3-0 win against Arminia Bielefeld at the VELTINS Arena. Head coach Mirko Slomka was understandably delighted, saying: "After the defeat against Valencia I'm very pleased we put in such a great performance." Indeed, Bielefeld could count themselves fortunate not to have conceded more.

The Royal Blues began with a 4-4-2 formation against Ernst Middendorp's men. That meant that Zlatan Bajramovic bolstered the midfield in place of striker Halil Altintop. In this line-up almost everything went to plan for Schalke. "We got the crowd going early on, were very present and played some flowing, determined football", said Slomka after the final whistle.

In view of all the chances the Royal Blues had they could have been more than 1-0 up at half-time after Kevin Kuranyi's 24th minute header. "Someone said Asamoah's shot was in as well", the Schalke boss said, recalling an unclear situation after a corner in the 31st minute. But the officials gave the benefit of the doubt to the Bielefeld defender who cleared the Germany international's effort off the line.

The pattern of the first 45 minutes will have produced two very different half-time pep talks. "We failed to relieve the pressure, had no assurance on the ball and were surprised ourselves by our lack of confidence", said Bielefeld coach Ernst Middendorp. "The only positive thing about the first half was that we were only 1-0 down." Mirko Slomka was able to take a different approach: "At half time we only had to change a few minor things to make sure we didn't get caught on the break. Bielefeld have taken all their clear-cut chances this season, after all."

But Schalke's central defenders were the best antidote against such a threat: "Marcelo Bordon and Heiko Westermann put in quality performances and didn't give Bielefeld any chances", said Slomka, who also felt his decision to play Bajramovic was justified: "He epitomised our determination to win the tackles right from the start. The game was as good as over after Asamoah made it 2-0 on 54.

And when Schalke were awarded a penalty, Rafinha and Ivan Rakitic could even afford to debate who was going to take it. But the Brazilian right-back is the first-choice penalty taker and comfortably made it three out of three in the Bundesliga to complete the scoring.

Afterwards both coaches were already looking to the next game. While Middendorp was keen to "draw a line under today as soon as possible" in view of the extent of the defeat, Slomka had another concern: "We don't have much time to prepare for Tuesday's match at MSV Duisburg. So we have to switch our focus straightaway." Schalke want to climb even further up the table, after all.

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Westermann, Bordon, Pander (Rodriguez 68') - Ernst - Jones, Bajramovic - Rakitic - Asamoah (Lovenkrands 75'), Kuranyi (Altintop 75')

Bielefeld: Hain - Schuler, Mijatovic, Langkamp, Rau - Kucera - Masmanidis (Kamper 61'), Kauf, Böhme (Nkosi 79') - Eigler, Wichniarek (Kampantais 62')

Referee: Perl (Munich)

Goals: 1-0 Kuranyi (24'), 2-0 Asamoah (54'), 3-0 Rafinha (65'/penalty)

Attendance: 61,482 (sold out)

Yellow cards: - Kamper