week 30 - match report

Late surge not enough as Royal Blues slip against Leverkusen

The VELTINS Arena remains a popular venue for Bayer Leverkusen, who added to their impressive away record this season with a 2-1 defeat of the Royal Blues on Saturday afternoon. Kevin Kuranyi's 87th minute strike was all Schalke had to show for their late surge. Mike Büskens put the reverse down to his side's below-par performance in the first half.

Schalke were forced to rejig their formation due to the loss of Jermaine Jones through suspension. Benedikt Höwedes began in defensive midfield, with Heiko Westermann and Mladen Krstajic again preferred in central defence. The visitors began the stronger, however, and were soon putting the Royal Blues under pressure.

So when Helmes gave them the lead in the ninth minute, it came as no surprise to Büskens. "Leverkusen have excellent quality going forward and they haven't picked up 26 points away from home by coincidence. You have to stay tight to them all the time because once you're chasing them it's tough", he said.

Bayer's second goal through Renato Augusto on 26 was ample proof of this. The visitors may have failed to find the target against bottom of the table Karlsruhe last Saturday, but today they went in at half-time two goals to the good. "We had to accept a lot of justified criticism last week", said Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia, who was delighted with his team's response. "The way the players were willing to work for each other, especially in the first half, was impressive." His only criticism was reserved for his side's profligacy in front of goal. "You can always come under pressure at Schalke, be it because of the stadium or because of their set pieces", he said.

Driven forward by the deafening home support, Schalke were much busier in the second half and had the cup finalists pinned back on the edge of their area for long periods. Gerald Asamoah and Ivan Rakitic added fresh legs to the attack, but the Royal Blues had nothing to show for their efforts until just before the end. "We were more aggressive in the second half, but René Adler pulled off some superb saves", opined Büskens. The Leverkusen goalkeeper defused several chances before Kuranyi finally pulled one back three minutes before the end of normal time. But it was to come too late.

The defeat represents a setback in the battle for places in the new Europa League, especially as local rivals Borussia Dortmund have overtaken the Royal Blues following their 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. With Bayern Munich beating Mönchengladbach and Stuttgart drawing in Bielefeld, attention now turns to the clash between SV Hamburg and Hertha BSC Berlin on Sunday. Schalke trail these two teams by five and six points respectively.

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Westermann, Krstajic, Pander (Engelaar 40') - Höwedes, Kobiashvili - Altintop (Rakitic 71') - Farfan (Asamoah 71'), Kuranyi, Sanchez
Leverkusen: Adler - Castro, Friedrich, Haggui, Kadlec - Rolfes - Renato Augusto (Sinkiewicz 89'), Vidal, Kroos (Barnetta 68') - Helmes (Charisteas 86'), Kiessling
Goals: 0-1 Helmes (9'), 0-2 Renato Augusto (26'), 1-2 Kuranyi (87')
Yellow cards: Rakitic (3), Rafinha (10/2), Krstajic (4), Sanchez (3) - Kroos (2), Vidal (5/4)
Attendance: 61,162
Referee: Meyer (Burgdorf)