week 16 - match report

S04 neutralise Hertha to win 1-0

After the 1-0 win over Hertha BSC Berlin there was deserved praise for Schalke from the visitors' head coach: "We have to accept that we were up against very, very good opponents today", said Lucien Favre. This after Gerald Asamoah had secured an early Christmas present for the Royal Blues.

Three days after the frustrating 2-1 away defeat to FC Twente in the UEFA Cup, Schalke boss Fred Rutten fielded an unchanged side. In this formation the Royal Blues not only looked the better team, they gave a whole-hearted performance, playing with total commitment and never giving a ball up as lost. The first chance came Kevin Kuranyi's way after just three minutes, and for the rest of the half it was one-way traffic towards the Hertha goal. "We'd analysed Hertha in depth before the game", said Rutten. "That allowed us to neutralise them on the pitch and play our own game at the same time."

Lucien Favre explained the effect this had on his side's game: "We lost the ball far too often because we played through the centre rather than down the wings. The ball kept coming back like a boomerang." In the first half, however, Schalke lacked a cutting edge in front of goal, though both Josip Simunic and Marc Stein had to make last-ditch interventions to clear their lines.

Schalke began with more urgency after the interval. Halil Altintop, on as a half-time substitute for Kuranyi, had two good chances to give Schalke the lead on 54 and 57. Each missed opportunity was met by groans from the stands. Nevertheless the fans could see that the eleven players on the pitch were fighting with a passion to get the win. And they showed their appreciation loudly. "The fans got behind the team all through the game, which I'm delighted about," said Rutten in praise of the supporters.

The commitment on the pitch and in the stands was finally rewarded in the 65th minute when Gerald Asamoah headed home a Jefferson Farfan cross to put Schalke 1-0 ahead.  Met with wild celebrations, it was to remain the game's decisive goal. After taking the lead the Royal Blues continued to dominate the action and overall were much nearer to a second than Hertha were to an equaliser. The visitors had just one chance, which fell to second-half substitute Marko Pantelic six minutes from time.

"That was a well-deserved win for us," concluded Rutten accordingly. With regard to the overall situation he said: "I've stayed calm at all times rather than let it unsettle me. You have to do that as a coach to allow the players to play their football with confidence. And that's what they've been doing over the last few weeks, but we've also had quite a lot of bad luck." Schalke made their own luck this time and as a result climbed three places up the Bundesliga table to sixth.

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Höwedes, Krstajic, Westermann - Jones, Ernst, Engelaar - Asamoah (Kobiashvili 90'), Kuranyi (Altintop 46'), Farfan
Berlin: Drobny - Friedrich, Kaka, Simunic, Stein (Pantelic 71') - Dardai, Kacar - Nicu, Cicero - Raffael (Domovchiyski 63') - Voronin (Chermiti 77')
Goal: 1-0 Asamoah (65')
Referee: Kempter (Sauldorf)
Attendance: 60,999
Yellow cards: Jones (4) - Stein (4), Cicero (4), Simunic (4)