week 6 - match report

Sloppy Schalke lose 1-0 in Cologne

Fred Rutten was succinct and honest: "Cologne were better. We deserved to lose." The Schalke boss was particularly angry with his side's showing in the first half, when Mohamad got the only goal of the game (43'). Halil Altintop hit the post in stoppage time.

Schalke's run of eleven games without a defeat in the Bundesliga came to an end on Friday at the Rhein Energie Stadium in Cologne. "These things always hurt", said Schalke's head coach after the final whistle before admitting: "We aren't big enough to take control of games like these yet."

The Dutchman was "very unhappy", especially with the first 45 minutes. "We made a lot of mistakes in our build-up play against an aggressive Cologne side. Our pass-and-move game was off. We gave the ball away far too cheaply."

Rutten made two changes to the team that beat Hannover 2-0 in the DFB Cup on Tuesday. Orlando Engelaar came back into defensive midfield for the suspended Fabian Ernst, while Ivan Rakitic replaced Vicente Sanchez in attack.

The first half clearly belonged to Cologne. Operating with two holding players in front of the back four and a three-man midfield who dropped back quickly whenever Schalke were in possession to pick up the full-backs Rafinha and Christian Pander, the home side made life difficult for the Royal Blues. Schalke struggled to break down the packed defensive ranks and did not help themselves by giving the ball away.

Because as soon as Cologne gained possession they quickly switched from defence to attack and fashioned a string of promising opportunities. Lone front man Milivoje Novakovic, for example, twice popped up unmarked in front of Ralf Fährmann. But the 19-year-old keeper stood his ground to save on both occasions. Fährmann was Schalke's best player but he enjoyed a stroke of luck in the 29th minute when a Roda Antar header struck the bar.

"We have our goalkeeper to thank. He played well. Without him the game would have been decided by half-time", opined Rutten.

The Royal Blues threatened just once in the first period. Jefferson Farfan swung in a corner but Heiko Westermann's header flew wide of the right-hand upright. Youssef Mohamad made no mistake on 44, however. A long throw-in by Pierre Wome was allowed to bounce in the penalty area and found its way to the Cologne central defender, who headed his side into the lead.

Rutten: "After the break we tried to repair the damage. And things went better. Cologne didn't have any genuine chances after that." The two efforts by Nemanja Vucicevic (48') and Wome (65') were easy meat for Fährmann. But the Royal Blues weren't much better. Only Engelaar (60') and Westermann (81') had shots on goal, both of which went wide, however.

In the closing stages the Royal Blues threw everyone forward again and almost got their reward in time added-on. But Halil Altintop's header from fellow substitute Gerald Asamoah's assist came back off the post. "We lacked a bit of luck there. But having said that it wouldn't have been deserved", summed up Rutten.

Cologne: Mondragon - Brecko, Geromel, Mohamad, Wome - Petit, Pezzoni - Vucicevic (Radu 83'), Antar, Ehret (Chihi 78') - Novakovic (McKenna 90'+1)
Schalke: Fährmann - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Pander - Westermann, Jones, Engelaar (Asamoah 87') - Farfan, Kuranyi (Altintop 69'), Rakitic (Sanchez 46')
Goal: 1-0 Mohamad (43')
Referee: Meyer (Burgdorf)
Attendance: 50,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Ehret, Geromel (2) - Rafinha (2), Sanchez, Farfan