week 6 - match report

Fighting spirit goes unrewarded as Schalke lose 2-1 to Wolfsburg

The players fought like lions, the fans gave them great support, but ultimately it was all to no avail. An Edin Dzeko brace condemned the Royal Blues to a 2-1 defeat against champions VfL Wolfsburg on Friday evening. Benedikt Höwedes had drawn them level in an exciting finale.

Felix Magath refused to attach any blame to his players after the defeat by his former club. "When you have such a young side, then the odd mistake is going to happen", the 56-year-old said. "Overall Wolfsburg were the more mature team. That may have been what made the difference."

Magath stuck with his winning 3-4-3 formation against his former club, but made two changes to the side that started in Cologne last week. Carlos Zambrano and Christoph Moritz dropped to the bench, while Lukas Schmitz was promoted from the fourth-tier second string to make his Bundesliga debut. Rafinha also came back into the side following his return from Brazil.

The noise level inside the VELTINS Arena increased measurably when the 24-year-old's photo appeared on the videocube before the kick-off, as the fans chanted his name with particular gusto. "The crowd really got behind us today, that's how it should be at Schalke", registered a satisfied Magath after the final whistle. "If it continues like that, we'll have lots to cheer about in future." Because the supporters acknowledged the effort put in by the players for the whole 90 minutes.

Schalke's best opportunities in the first half were a Jefferson Farfan header on 14 and Levan Kenia's long-range effort four minutes later. And there were loud claims for a penalty when Rafinha was sent tumbling to the ground after coming into contact with Josué. The referee was having none of it, however, and when Grafite missed a great chance on 38 it remained goalless at half-time.

The pace of the game picked up quickly in the second half. Less than three minutes in Kenia squandered a golden opportunity to open the scoring. At the other end Edin Dzeko made no such mistake, however. "The goal gave us more assurance", explained Wolfsburg boss Armin Veh, who complimented his side on "defending well against a very combative Schalke side". Nevertheless Schalke grabbed a thoroughly deserved equaliser ten minutes from time when Benedikt Höwedes headed home.

Yet with the Royal Blues still celebrating, they were brought back to earth with a bang. Just sixty seconds later Dzeko was on hand again to slot home the winner for Wolfsburg. "The goal came at just the right moment because Schalke put us under enormous pressure in the closing stages", adjudged Veh.

The home crowd thought Schalke had scored when Kevin Kuranyi headed the ball towards goal from close range on 83, but the ball hadn't crossed the line. Jefferson Farfan also missed the target with a shot from a narrow angle in the final seconds of normal time. "It just wasn't to be", summarised Magath, who still saw some positives in the defeat. "If we play like that in our next home matches and the fans back us like they did today, we will pick up points."

Schalke: Neuer - Höwedes, Westermann, Bordon - Rafinha, Pliatsikas, Schmitz (Holtby 81'), Kobiashvili (Kuranyi 60') - Farfan, Kenia - Asamoah (Altintop 60')
Wolfsburg: Lenz - Riether, Madlung, Barzagli, Schäfer - Josue - Johnson (Hasebe 31'), Gentner (Santana 60') - Misimovic - Grafite (Martins 89'), Dzeko
Goals: 0-1 Dzeko (55'), 1-1 Höwedes (80'), 1-2 Dzeko (81')
Referee: Gräfe (Berlin)
Yellow card: Martins
Attendance: 60,365