Schalke delight in Wolfsburg demolition
Top-four candidates FC Schalke 04 want to see much more of the same in the weeks ahead after brushing aside faltering VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday afternoon.
FC Schalke 04 3-0 VfL Wolfsburg
Goals: 1-0 Huntelaar (24’), 2-0 Geis (35’), 3-0 Schöpf (87’)
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke striker): "My goal to make it 1-0 was important because it set us on the road to victory. I always want to score goals – sometimes it goes better than others, sometimes your luck’s not in. I’ve worked hard in the last week, I also came close against Bremen. As a team, we’re trying to create plenty of chances. It’s the right way to go. It’ll continue to go well if we can keep it up. Fourth place is just a snapshot of where we are right now. We have to deliver week after week."
Johannes Geis (Schalke midfielder): "Of course I’m delighted with my goal. It’s great to score a direct free kick again. We deserved the three points. Everyone knew what an important game it was. That’s how we approached it. It’s even better for me that I was able to contribute to the win. We all know that there’s still a long way to go, but everyone’s really up for it. We still want more."
Alessandro Schöpf (Schalke midfielder): "I only played ten minutes, but it was still really special. It’s not often that I’ve played in front of over 60,000 spectators. It was a great feeling. The goal was obviously a big moment for me – that’s always the case. I struck the ball really well. After that it was just pure elation. I didn’t quite know where to run, but more importantly we played really well and deserved the three points. The fact we kept a direct rival for the top-four places at arm’s length makes the win all the sweeter."
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Schalke forward): "We knew all about Wolfsburg’s individual qualities. That’s why we wanted to be switched on from the start and put them under pressure. We did a good job of that and were clinical in front of goal. It was a convincing win. Hunter’s opener showed what a great striker he is. We were all full focused, everyone gave everything in defence and in attack."
Andre Breitenreiter (Schalke head coach): "It was a fantastic performance. We were really aggressive right from the outset. Against teams like VfL Wolfsburg, who are so strong up front, you have to take your chances. They had a few chances in the first half, but on the whole, we were very compact. Towards the end of the first half, we could have scored another. In the second half we wanted to remain solid defensively, which we did well. We made excellent use of the opportunities that came our way."
Dieter Hecking (Wolfsburg head coach): "Congratulations to FC Schalke, who deserved to win. We started out quite well and were a bit unlucky with the shot against the bar from Daniel Caligiuri and the chance for Julian Draxler. We then conceded the opener on a counter attack, lost our grip on things and allowed Schalke too much room to manoeuvre. Schalke made use of that, added a second goal and could possibly have made it three just before the break. We were on top of things in the second half, but never looked like having the necessary cut and thrust to score. We need to pick our heads up now. We’re going through a rough patch. We need to analyse the game and take it from there."
