last 16 - match report
Kuranyi’s early goal gives Schalke 1-0 win in 100th European game
In beating FC Porto 1-0, Schalke 04 notched up the club’s 50th win in the Royal Blues 100th game in all European club competitions. With the numbers adding up nicely in this first-leg of the first the knock-out round of the Champions League, the club’s prospects are looking good. “This win opens up a lot of possibilities for us, but the return leg will also be close,” said coach Mirko Slomka at the end of what was a hard-fought game. “We will need to be at our very best in Porto.”
Schalke started with the same line-up as in their successful first game after the winter break against VfB Stuttgart. That meant that four days after the home defeat to VfL Wolfsburg, Jermaine Jones returned as expected to the starting formation, with Peter Løvenkrands having to make way.
The side got off to a dream start. Kevin Kuranyi converted the very first goal chance to put Schalke 1-0 up in the 4th minute after good build-up work from Jones and Rafinha. “We started very well and were strong in the tackle,” commented Slomka, happy with the good start, which characterised the rest of the game up until half-time. “We played really well in all areas in the first half and could have gone 2 up, as we had the much better chances.”
Porto’s coach Jesualdo Ferreira saw things differently: “The early Schalke goal upset our game plan. We lost our composure and were then constantly under pressure,” said the 61 year-old. “We had to reorganise during the course of the game, especially in defence, as for me Kuranyi was becoming too dangerous.” Porto’s keeper Helton, however, who got a hand to the goal but couldn’t keep it out, stopped his team going further behind with good reflex saves to deny Rakitic on 35 minutes and Kuranyi five minutes later.
After the break, the visitors showed why the pundits had them down as favourites, as they now dominated large parts of the game. “The second half was much more difficult for us,” noted Slomka. “That was undoubtedly partly to do with the fact that it was important for us to keep a clean sheet.” The side had not managed to do that in recent weeks, “and it’s hard not to let that make you anxious.”
Schalke’s hard work in avoiding mistakes at the back came at the expense of their own attacking efforts. “We didn’t have any clear-cut chances,” thought Ferreira later, although this was a view not shared by his Schalke counterpart. “We were a bit lucky at one stage not to concede an equaliser,” said Slomka, recalling the great chance in the 79th minute that fell to Porto striker Lisando Lopez, who, however, missed the target from five metres.
Both before and after that, however, Schalke kept things very tight. “We brought on Grossmüller as a calming influence, plus Halil Altintop, who played behind Kuranyi and upset Asuncao’s forward passing.” The plan worked and Schalke succeeded in playing out the game with a win and a clean sheet. “We lacked strength up front and didn’t play as well as we usually do,” was the contrasting verdict from Ferreira, critical of his team’s performance. “The team as whole were not clever enough to turn the game around.”
Schalke: Neuer – Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann – Ernst, Jones – Rakitic (Grossmüller, 77), Kobiashvili – Asamoah (Altintop, 81), Kuranyi (Sanchez, 89)
Porto: Helton – Joao Paulo, Pedro Emanuel, Bruno Alves, Fucile (Mariano Gonzalez, 85) – Lucho Gonzalez, Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles – Lopez, Farias (Sektioui, 56), Quaresma
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)
Goal: 1:0 Kuranyi (4)
Attendance: 53,951 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Jones (4), Grossmüller (2), Ernst
