Schalke beat Bremen 2-1 to lift Victoria Cup
14.01.2008
FC Schalke 04 won the Victoria Cup thanks to a 2 1 win over Werder Bremen. An own goal by Naldo and a penalty from Rafinha secured victory for the Royal Blues in an exciting, high-quality game in Kundu, Turkey, while Leon Andreasen replied for Bremen.
The game was played with plenty of pace and effort in the first half. Both sides looked to close the ball down quickly and launch quick counterthrusts on winning possession. The Royal Blues, for whom Halil Altintop operated as a central striker in front of Peter Lovenkrands, Ivan Rakitic and Gerald Asamoah, sought to play down the flanks whenever they had the opportunity, with Gerald Asamoah able to get past Bremen's Max Kruse on the right on several occasions. Yet there were few chances at either end.
Schalke enjoyed more of the possession, but it was Bremen who had the first chance, Jensen's free-kick just clearing Ralf Fährmann's crossbar. The Royal Blues registered their first opportunity on 33 minutes. Rafinha received a short corner from Ivan Rakitic in the right channel and his shot forced Tim Wiese into the save. But there was nothing the Bremen keeper could do 60 seconds later when centre-back Naldo turned Mladen Krstajic's cross into his own net from three metres out. Schalke then went out in search of a second, but the final pass lacked the necessary accuracy.
Mirko Slomka made four changes at the start of the second half, switching Levan Kobiashvili from left back to midfield for Fabian Ernst and thus creating space for Heiko Westermann. Mesut Özil and Carlos Grossmüller came into midfield for Gerald Asamoah and Peter Lovenkrands, while Soren Larsen replaced Halil Altintop at centre forward.
Bremen controlled the opening stages of the half but were unable to mount a serious threat on the Schalke goal. The Royal Blues created their first chance on 52 when Westermann got in a shot from the edge of the area, and seven minutes later they were two up. Bremen midfielder Jurica Vranjes handled the ball after a challenge by Jermaine Jones and Rafinha converted the penalty with aplomb to make it 2-0.
Larsen then had a goal ruled out for a offside following a fine move involving Özil and Westermann before Leon Andreasen pulled one back for Bremen with a long-range effort that Fährmann let past him.
Bremen stepped up the pressure again, but the Schalke defence stood firm. Not until the last few minutes was Fährmann called into action on a couple of occasions. For their part the Royal Blues always looked dangerous on the break and were perhaps unlucky not to add a third. Schalke eventually closed the game out to seal a deserved win.
FC Schalke 04: Fährmann - Rafinha (Ze Roberto 64'), Höwedes, Krstajic, Kobiashvili - Ernst (Grossmüller 46'), Jones, Lovenkrands (Westermann 46'), Rakitic, Asamoah (Özil 46') - Altintop (Larsen 46')
Werder Bremen: Wiese (Pellatz 46') - Kruse (Erdem 72') , Naldo, Mertesacker (Pasanen 61'), Harnik - Andreasen (Tosic 75'), Borowski, Vranjes, Jensen - Klasnic (Mosquera 82'), Rosenberg (Almeida 61').
Goals: 1-0 Naldo (own goal 34'), 2-0 Rafinha (penalty 59'), 2-1 Andreasen (67')
