week 7 - match report

Royal Blues win 2-0 in Duisburg - and it could have been more!

The drought is over. A 2-0 triumph at MSV Duisburg saw Schalke pick up their first away win in the Bundesliga since the 3-0 defeat of Mainz on 14 April. Halil Altintop (3') and Kevin Kuranyi (75') got the goals, but general manager Andreas Müller wasn't alone in thinking: "We could have killed the game off much earlier."

Afterwards Mirko Slomka was delighted not only with his side's opening away victory, but also with the second clean sheet in a row. Yet the Schalke boss readily acknowledged that the first 30 minutes were evenly balanced despite the early lead. "We were too hectic in that phase of the game. Things didn't improve until after the break."

Duisburg coach Rudi Bommer took a similar view. "We closed down the space early on and tackled well. We simply didn't score. But in the end we could have lost by more."

The Schalke team that beat Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 on Saturday showed one change due to injury. Gerald Asamoah sustained a toe injury in the 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich and played against Valencia and Bielefeld with an injection, but the club officials did not want to take any risks against Duisburg and therefore decided to rest him. Halil Altintop took the Germany striker's place in the team, which again operated in a 4-4-2 formation.

And the change paid off as early as the third minute, when Altintop took advantage of a mistake by Duisburg keeper Tom Starke to open the scoring. It was the Turkey international's second goal of the season, yet the home side didn't let it put them out of their stride. "MSV were very present in midfield in the first 30 minutes. They were well organised", said Slomka after the final whistle.

Schalke made too little of the space they were given in midfield, though the defence was solid. There was only one moment of danger for the Royal Blues, who took to the field wearing orange (shirts and socks) and black (shorts). But Klemen Lavric was unable to get on the end of a Pablo Caceres cross (24'). At the other end a headed goal by Kuranyi in the 40th minute was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

In the second period Schalke's passing looked more assured and they finally upped the tempo of their attacks. Slomka: "We won a lot of balls in midfield and launched some good counterthrusts, but unfortunately we weren't able to convert them all into goals." After Grlic had hit the post on 49 the Royal Blues were the only side in it. But because Ivan Rakitic (49'), Kuranyi (58'), Jermaine Jones (58') and substitute Peter Lovenkrands failed to take their chances, the outcome remained uncertain until the 75th minute, when Kuranyi sent the thousands of travelling Schalke fans into raptures with his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0. And in the closing stages Zlatan Bajramovic (81') and Jones (89') both missed chances to add a third.

Duisburg: Starke - Willi, Schlicke, Fernando (Ndoum 90'+1), Caceres (Daun 77') - Tiffert, Grlic, Tararache, Georgiew - Ishiaku, Lavric

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Westermann, Bordon, Pander (Kobiashvili 80') - Ernst - Jones, Bajramovic - Rakitic (Grossmüller 84') - Kuranyi, Altintop (Lovenkrands 66')

Referee: Stark (Landshut)

Goals: 0-1 Altintop (3'), 0-2 Kuranyi (75')

Attendance: 31,500 (sold out)

Yellow cards: Tiffert - Jones (3), Bordon (2)