week 23 - match report

Daum sees Cologne penned in as Schalke win 1-0

FC Cologne arrived at the VELTINS Arena with a reputation as a good away side, as documented by their recent 2-1 win at Bayern Munich. To avoid a similar fate, the Royal Blues put their faith in attack. And they got their reward when Jermaine Jones fired them ahead, a lead that was to remain theirs until the end.

Head coach Fred Rutten made two changes to the team that went out of the cup in Mainz, Benedikt Höwedes coming in to partner Mladen Krstajic in central defence instead of Marcelo Bordon, and Ivan Rakitic starting in place of Orlando Engelaar. After an even start Schalke soon gained the edge in midfield. Cologne sought refuge on the occasional counter, but they were unable to trouble the home defence.

On 28 minutes Jermaine Jones turned the Schalke pressure into a goal after some fine approach play involving Kevin Kuranyi, Vicente Sanchez and Ivan Rakitic. It was a goal that had been coming, as Christoph Daum conceded: "In the opening stages we came up against a very strong Schalke team. They dictated the play and had us penned in our own box. So the opening goal was well deserved", the Cologne coach said with regard to the first half.

Having played in Mainz just three days previously, the Royal Blues dropped a little more into midfield in the second half. Cologne tried their luck in attack, but with the exception of one or two set pieces they rarely threatened the Schalke rearguard. "All in all their defence was solid and they restricted us to just a few chances", said Daum, who also bemoaned his side's lack of luck.

Fred Rutten recalled the goal the players had set themselves before game, saying: "We wanted three points today – that was the most important thing." His substitutions were made with this in mind. "We had analysed our opponents well and we know what they do when they go behind. I brought Marcelo Bordon on and put Benedikt Höwedes into defensive midfield to prepare for a Cologne offensive. We needed the physical strength", the Schalke boss explained.

The reason behind his decision to take Vicente Sanchez off was simple: "The lad was exhausted. He hadn't played for a long time and has now had three games in a week", said the Dutchman, who was very pleased with the lively winger's performance.

Otherwise he could only agree with his colleague Christoph Daum, who summed up the 90 minutes as follows: "Today we were the pushovers we didn't want to be. We now have to make sure we don't allow ourselves to be put under as much pressure as a strong Schalke side did today."

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Höwedes, Krstajic, Kobiashvili - Jones - Westermann, Rakitic (Bordon 71') - Farfan, Kuranyi, Sanchez (Asamoah 82')
Cologne: Mondragon - Brecko, Geromel, Mohamad, Matip - Petit, Pezzoni (Ishiaku 82') - Brosinski (Yalcin 63'), Vucicevic (McKenna 86'), Ehret - Novakovic
Goal: 1-0 Jones (28')
Referee: Perl (Munich)
Attendance: 61,673 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Rafinha (5/4), Farfan (3), Jones (5/2) - Ehret (3), Petit (5/1)