RECAP: WEEKEND GERMAN ACTION Clint Waddell - Monday, November 30, 2009
Michael Bradley and the Foals ruined Schalke's attempt to run their undefeated streak to ten, while David Yelldell and Koblenz picked up yet another loss on the road to Karlsruhe.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 - 0 FC Schalke 04
A goal was all Michael Bradley and the Foals needed to put an end to Schalke's run of nine undefeated games.
It didn't take long for Gladbach to put Schalke on the defensive on Saturday when a long ball from Gladbach defender Dante in the fifth minute made its way to midfielder Juan Arango. The Venezuelan international rounded Schalke defender Heiko Westermann and passed to youngster Marco Reus, who put the ball in the back of the net.
Gladbach continued to apply pressure after the goal and was the more active of the two teams in the first 25 minutes, before the guests finally started to show some signs of life.
Schalke's first shot came from forward Kevin Kuranyi in the 28th minute, but was easily collected by keeper Logan Bailly. Kuranyi would follow that up with another shot seven minutes later and a dangerous free kick from Ivan Rakitic would end the half.
The second half started much like the first, with Gladbach clearly controlling the run of play.
Schalke were more offensive in the last 30 minutes, but weren't able even things up. Gladbach relied on counterattacking in the second half, with Reus and Raul Bobadilla each having opportunities, but the game would finally end 1-0.
Gladbach will try to make it six undefeated games in a row when they travel to Munich on Friday to take on Bayern.
Schalke, who are still expected to be without midfielder Jermaine Jones until the new year, will fully expect to get back on track with an easy win when they host last-place Hertha on Sunday.
Karlsruher SC 2 - 1 TuS Koblenz
David Yeldell and TuS Koblenz walked away empty-handed from Karlsruhe on Friday as they were unable to rally from two goals down.
The first half ended without either team being able to capitalize on opportunities. The best chance fell to the home team as Lars Stindl sent a troublesome ball into the box that two Karlsruhe players weren't able to connect with and was safely collected by Yeldell.
The second half started with a little more action from the home team and it wouldn't take long for them to finally put one over the line – at least officially.
Stindl poked a pass from Alexander Iashivili towards the goal in the 48th minute which Yeldell was unable to hold onto. The ball rolled along the line and was finally cleared by defender Rico Morack, but the referee had already declared it a goal.
Replays would show that the call was debatable at best.
Karlsruhe doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when Marco Engelhardt played a ball back to Anton Fink who hammered the ball past Yeldell into the back of the net.
Koblenz pulled one back 12 minutes later, when Shefki Kuqi passed to brother Njazi, who put his shot past Karlsruhe keeper Markus Miller. It wouldn't be enough, however, as the game ended 2-1.
Koblenz will host promotion candidate St. Pauli next Saturday and have their work cut out for them as they are still in 16th place in the standings, slowly losing sight of the pack.
Notes
Steve Cherundolo sat out Hannover's 3-0 home loss to FC Bayern on Sunday with a slight knee injury.
Bryan Arguez did not suit up for Hertha's 3-1 home loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, as they further slipped into the league's cellar.
Matthew Taylor was not included on the bench as FSV Frankfurt lost 1-0 to Hansa Rostock at home on Friday and are still in the relegation zone. They will head to Augsburg on Friday as they try to improve their position before the break.
Injured 1860 Munich forward Kenny Cooper watched from the stands as his team tied Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-2 at home on Sunday.
Ian Joy was injured and not included in Ingolstadt's squad on Saturday, a their impressive 5-1 win over SV Wehen Wiesbaden moved them into a four-way tie for second place, leading the rest of the pack by goal differential.
Luis Robles will watch from the bench on Monday evening when Kaiserslautern try to protect their place atop the league when third-place Bielefeld pay them a visit.
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