Week 31 - Match report

Schalke keep title hopes alive with 3-1 win over Gladbach

Schalke kept the title race alive after two defeats in a row had put them under pressure. Three points were a must against Borussia Mönchengladbach to prevent Bayern Munich from pulling away at the top. And after 90 minutes their interim objective had been achieved.

Seven days after the exasperating 4-2 defeat in Hannover head coach Felix Magath opted to rotate. One change was forced upon him after Heiko Westermann was ruled out by a cold. Marcelo Bordon returned to central defence for the Schalke skipper after serving a one-match ban. Edu also came in to partner Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan in attack.

Last week the Royal Blues went behind to an early goal, but this time they got off to an ideal start. At the North Stand end Logan Bailly had the sun in his eyes, but not even volcanic ash could have helped the Gladbach keeper stop Ivan Rakitic's piledriver. From Farfan's pass the ball flew into the top left corner to make it 1-0 and ought to have given Schalke enough momentum to launch further attacks.

This 'ought to' was followed by two Schalke defenders losing an aerial battle against Raul Bobadilla. The Argentine striker sprinted for the ball, as did the onrushing Manual Neuer, who already had two hands on it when Bobadilla stole it from him and slid it into the empty net. With everything happening so quickly it was a difficult one to judge for referee Deniz Aytekin, who gave the goalscorer the benefit of the doubt and allowed it to stand.

The Royal Blues seized up for a while after the equaliser and then, as against Hannover, carelessly ran into several Gladbach counterattacks. Magath said: "The equaliser knocked us out of our stride and we were losing the tackles. The second goal just before the break was fortunate for us." Fortunate because Farfan was standing in exactly the right place. The Peruvian slotted home the rebound to restore Schalke's lead after Bailly had parried a Kuranyi header. Gladbach coach Michael Frontzeck claimed his players had been fouled both in the run-up to the corner and before the goal. Kevin Kuranyi, who is alleged to have done the pushing on both occasions, said: "There's lots of shoving in the penalty box. Early on I didn't get the decision when it could have been a penalty. Before the goal I didn't behave any differently to my marker previously.

Mario Gavranovic came on at the start of the second half to make his Bundesliga debut. And Schalke's winter-break signing was in the thick of things right away. Dante tripped him up in the box, and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Rakitic grabbed the ball, as in Hamburg and Hannover, and converted the penalty to make it 3-1 with 47 minutes gone. The game was far from over, however, and not just because there was still a long time left to play. Though most of Gladbach's moves broke down on the edge of the area, the Royal Blues were unable to make any of their counterattacking chances count. The best opportunities fell to Gavranovic, who was denied by Bailly on 71, and Kuranyi, who hit the outside of the right-hand post from a narrow angle seven minutes from time.

The score stayed 3-1 for a win Schalke deserved in light of their second-half performance. A viewpoint shared by Frontzeck and Magath. With 61 points the Royal Blues are entitled to stake their claim for the title. "I'm convinced we have a good chance of winning the league," stressed Magath. "Nothing happened against Hannover, I was clear on that, but I don't believe Bayern will win all their Bundesliga games alongside their Champions League programme. Three wins would give us the opportunity to clinch the title. That will be our aim.

Schalke: Neuer – Rafinha, Höwedes, Bordon, Schmitz – Hao (Asamoah 49'), Rakitic, Kluge (Matip 85') – Farfan – Edu (Gavranovic 46'), Kuranyi
Mönchengladbach: Bailly – Levels, Brouwers, Dante, Daems – Matmour (Herrmann 75'), Marx, Bradley, Arango - Reus (Colautti 86'), Bobadilla
Referee: Aytekin (Oberasbach)
Goals: 1-0 Rakitic (8'), 1-1 Bobadilla (16'), 2-1 Farfan (45'), 3-1 Rakitic (pen. 47')
Attendance: 61,673 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Höwedes (4) - Bobadilla (4), Matmour (5)