week 9 - match report

Blues spurn chances in goalless stalemate with Bielefeld

After eight wins in succession over the visitors Schalke 04 had to settle for a scoreless draw at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday. "Like everyone else here I'm unhappy with the result", said Fred Rutten after the final whistle.

Less than 48 hours after the 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Cup the Schalke boss made two changes to his starting line-up. Benedikt Höwedes replaced the injured Heiko Westermann in central defence, while Ivan Rakitic came in for Orlando Engelaar. And the Croatia international could have made things a lot easier for the Royal Blues four minutes in, had he taken a great chance with just Bielefeld keeper Dennis Eilhoff to beat. "An early goal would certainly have helped us. As it was we had to work very hard", said general manager Andreas Müller.

And that against a side looking to make amends. Bielefeld coach Michael Frontzeck began his assessment with a reference to his side's previous outing: "After a very poor performance in the 4-1 defeat in Wolfsburg, which we went over in no uncertain terms, what's important for us is that we showed a positive response." Though this response saw Arminia sit very deep, they were full of running in their defensive work and certainly looked dangerous on the break. The best of their counterattacks led to a great chance for Wichniarek on the half hour, only for the Polish striker to head wide. At the other end Kevin Kuranyi, whose excellent passing set up a number of opportunities for his team-mates, was unlucky to see his effort strike the post.

The second half began just as the first had with a chance for Rakitic, and after Jonas Kamper had almost fired the visitors ahead having left the Schalke defence for dead with his pace, Halil Altintop was denied when looking certain to score. With an hour gone, however, Kamper was dismissed for a second bookable offence. "The second caution was justified, but the first was a joke", criticised Frontzeck. "We fought really well and had some good counterattacks. With eleven against eleven I'm sure we'd have had a few more. But referees make mistakes like everyone else. Oh well, forget it."

A man to the good, Schalke pegged Bielefeld back in their own half. And additional impetus was provided by the introduction of Engelaar, whose passes repeatedly found gaps in the Arminia defence. It seemed only a matter of time before Schalke would score, but it simply wasn't to be. Altintop was denied by Eilhoff's foot. Farfan then skipped past three defenders in the Arminia box, only to see Lamey clear his shot off the line. And though they laid siege to the Bielefeld goal, the Royal Blues simply couldn't find the net. "We rode our luck a bit after going down to ten men, but my players gave their all. And our keeper Dennis Eilhoff had a major hand in our getting a point, which is very important for us", said Frontzeck.

Rutten took a different view of the stalemate: "We created a lot of chances from open play and until the 93rd minute we also had the strength and the morale to force a win. But to do so we needed to score, and we didn't."

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Höwedes, Bordon, Kobiashvili - Jones, Ernst (Engelaar 66') - Rakitic (Asamoah 66') - Farfan, Kuranyi, Altintop (Sanchez 78')
Bielefeld: Eilhoff - Lamey, Herzig, Bollmann, Schuler - Kucera, Tesche - Kamper, Halfar, Katongo - Wichniarek (Sadik 86')
Referee: Winkmann (Kerken)
Attendance: 60,886
Red card (second yellow): Kamper (60'/persistent foul play)
Yellow cards: Höwedes - Schuler (2), Herzig (2)