Champions League quarter-finalists
Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Arsenal, Malaga or Porto
Galatasaray reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League after edging out valiant Schalke at the Veltins-Arena.
Despite taking an early lead through
Roman Neustadter, the German side were ultimately undone by strikes from
Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz just before the break.
Although Michel Bastos levelled just
after the hour, Schalke still needed another as Gala had scored more
away goals and their all-out attack left them vulnerable at the back,
with the Turkish outfit making sure of their progress thanks to Umut
Bulut's injury-time effort.
In the hat: Didier Drogba (right) and
Felipe Melo rejoice at the final whistle (above) before the duo are
joined by Wesley Sneijder and Gokhan Zan (below)
Match facts
Schalke: Hildebrand,
Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Kolasinac, Hoger (Meyer 86), Neustadter (Fuchs
46), Farfan, Draxler, Michel Bastos, Pukki (Obasi Ogbuke 85). Subs not used: Fahrmann, Metzelder, Barnetta, Moritz.
Booked: Hoger, Kolasinac.
Goals: Neustadter 17, Michel Bastos 63.
Galatasaray: Muslera, Eboue, Kaya (Zan 78), Nounkeu, Riera, Felipe Melo, Altintop, Sneijder(Amrabat 70), Inan, Drogba, Burak Yilmaz (Bulut 86).Subs not used: Iscan, Balta, Kurtulus, Sarioglu.
Booked: Drogba.
Goals: Altintop 37, Yilmaz 42, Bulut 90+4.
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).
Attendance: 52,000.
The Super Lig leaders were looking to
bounce back from an embarrassing home defeat to Genclerbirligi in their
last domestic outing and they started in confident fashion.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba
looked imperious early on and Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had to
be at his best to tip the striker's fierce effort round the post.
The Ivorian then played in Selcuk Inan,
who ran through on goal but lost his balance and his shot did not unduly
trouble Hildebrand.
It seemed only a matter of time until
the Schalke goal was breached but it was the hosts who took a 17-minute
lead very much against the run of play.
The visitors failed to clear their lines
from a corner and Joel Matip played the ball back to Neustadter, who
slotted home with his outstretched left foot.
The strike seemed to settle Schalke, who had won all three league games since the draw in the first leg.
No mistake: Roman Neustaedter keeps his head in a crowded Galatasaray penalty box to give Schalke the lead
On target: Roman Neustaedter
Wesley Sneijder served notice to the
Gelsenkirchen side, however, when he fired narrowly wide from just
inside the area before Altintop brought the tie back to life in the 37th
minute.
Drogba squared a free-kick to the Turkey international 25 yards from goal and his fierce blast went in off the post.
Remember me? Hamit Altintop lets fly from 30 yards to level matters on the night against his former club
And five minutes later, Gala had taken
the lead when Burak shrugged off the challenge of Benedikt Howedes and
lifted over Hildebrand for his eighth Champions League goal in as many
games.
Jens Keller's men started the second
half in positive fashion and Teemu Pukki - starting in place of injured
star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar - turned on the edge of the box before
his rattling low effort was pushed away by Fernando Muslera at his near
post.
Nifty finish: Burak Yilmaz hits his
eighth strike of this season's Champions League, tapping the ball past
Schalke keeper Timo Hildebrand
Nifty finish: Burak Yilmaz hits his
eighth strike of this season's Champions League, tapping the ball past
Schalke keeper Timo Hildebrand
The Gala goalkeeper was at fault, however, when Michel Bastos levelled in the 63rd minute.
Marco Hoger fired against the crossbar and although it looked like there would be no follow-up, Muslera fumbled and left Atsuto Uchida to square for the Brazilian to fire into an empty net.
Marco Hoger fired against the crossbar and although it looked like there would be no follow-up, Muslera fumbled and left Atsuto Uchida to square for the Brazilian to fire into an empty net.
Sneijder went close to immediately
regaining the lead for Gala but he hammered wide but it was Schalke who
gained the upper hand thereafter, with Muslera slightly redeeming
himself by smartly parrying away Julian Draxler's effort.
Going down: Drogba turns his ankle while celebrating with Yilmaz, prompting Melo to check up on his team-mate (below)
Gala then had to make a change as
defender Semih Kaya was carried off the pitch having been knocked out
although that did not seem to affect the Istanbul side, who held firm in
spite of some probing pressure from Schalke.
However, the hosts left themselves wide
open to the counter in search of a winner and it was Gala who stole up
the other end to make sure of their progress to the quarter-final.
Back in the hunt: Michel Bastos sidefoots home to give Schalke hope of progression
Substitute Umut beat the offside trap in
the fifth minute of injury time and beat Hildebrand at the second
attempt to send the visitors wild with joy.
Late drama: With Schalke pushing for a
winner, Galatasaray broke with Umut Bulut hitting the winner to spark
wild celebrations among the Turkish team (below)
No comments:
Post a Comment