Round 1 - Report
Royal Blues ease past Bremerhaven into Round 2
FC Bremerhaven: Barre - Sekulic, Tuffour, Korkmaz (73' Attoh) , Kriesen (89' Obasek) - D. da Rocha Nunes, Sahin (83' G. da Rocha Nunes), Chaaban, Karaca, Shalaj, Spert.
FC Schalke 04: Rost – Altintop, Waldoch, Krstajic (71' Klinger), Rodriguez – Poulsen, Bajramovic, Cziommer (46' Varela) – Asamoah, Larsen, Kuranyi (71' Laumann).
Goals: 0:1 Larsen (35'), 0:2 Larsen (65'), 0:3 Bajramovic (67')
Yellow cards: G. da Rocha Nunes (85')
Attendance: 10000 (sold out)
Referee: Thorsten Schriever (Otterndorf)
FC Schalke 04 moved into the second round of the DFB Cup by defeating fifth-division outfit FC Bremerhaven 3-0 on Saturday evening. Sören Larsen (2) and Zlatan Bajramovic got the goals for the Royal Blues in front of 10,000 spectators at the North Sea Stadium.
Head coach Ralf Rangnick, who was without ten players due to injury or suspension, made five changes to the side that beat Dortmund last week. Tomasz Waldoch and Dario Rodriguez deputised for Marcelo Bordon and Levan Kobiashvili in defence, Simon Cziommer and Gerald Asamoah came in for Fabian Ernst and Gustavo Varela in midfield, while Sören Larsen replaced Ebbe Sand in attack.
The Royal Blues took the initiative from the outset, forcing their lower-league opponents onto the back foot. Yet they were unable to fashion any clear-cut chances. The biggest threat came from set pieces, though the home side's committed rearguard was alert to the danger.
In the 16th minute the Royal Blues created the first opportunity of the match when the lively Sören Larsen was put in by a long ball into the penalty area, but Bremerhaven keeper Wilko Barre rushed out of his goal to defuse the situation. Just two minutes later, though, Bajramovic's header from a Cziommer corner was cleared off the line by Delmar da Rocha Nunes with the keeper beaten.
Schalke now laid siege to the Bremerhaven goal and soon crafted another opening for Larsen on 23. Kevin Kuranyi nodded the ball down to the Dane, whose shot from 13 metres sailed narrowly past the right-hand upright. The home side did their best to make life difficult for the Royal Blues, showing bite in the tackle and offering courageous resistance to Schalke's offensive line.
Yet for all their effort they were unable to prevent Schalke from finding the net in the 32nd minute. Gerald Asamoah completed a fine mazy run by slipping the ball to Kuranyi, who stuck the ball away only for the referee to rule the goal out for offside. But within 120 seconds the Royal Blues did have reason to celebrate. Rodriguez sent a fine cross into the Bremerhaven penalty area where Sören Larsen rose the highest to head his second competitive goal for last year's runners-up.
Three minutes later the Danish striker found the net again from a cross by Cziommer, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside. The 23-year-old also had the final chance of the half, but this time his header was well saved by Barre.
Schalke raised the pace at the beginning of the second half and created a string of chances, but neither Bajramovic nor Kuranyi nor Hamit Altintop were able to conjure up a second goal.
The home side resorted to a counterattacking game and almost got their reward when Sahin forced his way into the Schalke penalty area and lobbed the ball over Frank Rost's head, only to see it fall wide of the goal.
On 65 minutes the Royal Blues showed how it is done when Bajramovic threaded a neat through ball into the area to set up Larsen, who left Barre with no chance to score his and Schalke's second. And just two minutes later the ball was in the net again when Bajramovic was allowed the time and space to head a third.
"In the closing stages Schalke had several chances to extend their lead. Larsen missed the target with a bouncing header on 75, as did Rodriguez three minutes later with a drive from outside the box. Substitute Joseph Laumann also had a couple of attempts on goal before the end, but Barre ensured his team were spared a heavier defeat."
"We struggled a bit in the opening half-hour due to the difficult playing conditions. Unfortunately it was almost impossible to dribble the ball or string passes together. In the second half we managed to create more for our strikers and in the end we deserved to win. But I must congratulate a Bremerhaven team who battled well and showed lots of passion", said Rangnick after the game.
