Narrow Win Sees Schalke Top

Schalke 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt

An own goal from Patrick Ochs proved enough to see Schalke to victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Veltins Arena and sees the Königsblauen topping the table at least until Hamburg play tomorrow.

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First Half  

Schalke took control of possession right from the off as you would expect from the home side, but were unable to find any holes in the Frankfurt defence.  Chances were a rarity in the opening minutes although the visitors did have a good chance from a free kick but Toski’s delivery found no-one.  

On 10 minutes Kevin Kuranyi came to the fore beating Russ with a clever trick before narrowly missing the target with his shot.  That effort seemed to inspire the Königsblauen and Farfan broke down the right flank before cutting inside and unleashing a shot on goal.  His effort however fizzed just wide of the post.   

The chances that continued to arrive fell to the home side with both Farfan and Kuranyi having good attempts on the Frankfurt goal.   

On 22 minutes Ivan Rakitic flighted in a well delivered free kick after Ochs had fouled Jones and Nikolov was forced to palm the ball away for a corner.  The resulting set-piece saw Marcelo Bordon miss a header by a narrow margin.  

Two minutes later and Rafinha produced a superb moment.  The Brazilian played a one-two with Kevin Kuranyi and forced keeper Nikolov into a fine save to prevent the opening goal.  Frankfurt attempted to push forward and Liberopoulos was denied by Fährmann on 26 minutes after a long through pass from Ochs.  

Eintracht then had their first real effort on target when Alex Meier cut inside after good combination play from Spycher.  Fährmann in the Schalke goal was able to gather the mis-hit effort with ease.  

Then on 34 minutes the visitors were rather unluckily reduced to tem men when midfielder Chris was sent off for an elbow on Heiko Westermann.  TV replays showed that the Brazilian was a little hard done by to see red.  

The man advantage paid off four minutes before the break when Patrick Ochs put through his own net.  Farfan went through on goals and the unfortunate Ochs’ attempted tackle flew past keeper Nikolov for the opening goal.   

Schalke could have gone two up before the break but keeper Nikolov produced a fantastic save to deny Rakitic with a header from close range on 42 minutes.  

Second Half  

The home side started the second half well with Jermaine Jones taking a pot shot from distance which flew just wide of the goal.  Ivan Rakitic also sent an effort narrowly wide with a left foot shot on 48 minutes.  Kevin Kuranyi then produced an awful miss after good work from Westermann.  With an empty goal to aim at, the German international sent his shot high into the stands.  

Greek striker Liberopoulos tried his luck with an audacious effort on 55 minutes after spotting keeper Fährmann off his line, but the Schalke keeper got back well to clear the danger.  The mood inside the stadium was fantastic with the home fans producing a unique atmosphere.  

Frankfurt for their part continued to press forward and Bordon had to be alert to deny Liberopoulos on 66 minutes, while Ochs forced Fährmann into a save from a free kick with 20 minutes left.  Schalke were becoming far too passive and inviting the ten men onto them.  

With eight minutes left the home side did then cause some excitement when Kobiashvili forced Nikolov into a fine save from distance.  The keeper also had to deny Vicente Sanchez with the rebound.  

Both sides had their chances in the closing minutes but Schalke held on and went top with an important three points.  

Goals:  

1-0  Ochs o.g (41)  

Schalke: Fährmann, Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Kobiashvili, Engelaar, Westermann, Jones, Farfan, Rakitic (Sanchez 72), Kuranyi (Streit 83)  

Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov, Ochs, Galindo, Russ, Spycher, Fink, Chris, Meier, Toski (Bellaid 39), Fenin (Steinhöfer 85), Liberopoulos