Choupo-Moting: 'An important step for us'
Gelsenkirchen - VfL Wolfsburg's six-game winning run in the Bundesliga came to an end on Matchday 12 as FC Schalke 04 ran out 3-2 winners at the Veltins Arena.
FC Schalke 04
bundesliga.com has the post-match reaction from a pulsating encounter in Gelsenkirchen...
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: We played very well today. Wolfsburg are in great form and we beat them. It was an important step for us as a team - we showed the fans that we can play good football. We wanted to control the match from the beginning and we managed to do that in the first half-hour in particular. We played confidently, didn't let ourselves be intimidated and we've been working very hard in training these past two weeks, which helped us today.
Benedikt Höwedes: Wolfsburg weren't able to deal with our tactical switch. We always had a man over in midfield, and it's always a plus when you have five men in the middle of the park when you're in possession. We were able to switch from defence to attack very quickly and scored very good goals. It was annoying to concede so close to half-time, but overall I'm very pleased with how we performed in the first half. In the second half we had to dig deep. Wolfsburg put us under enormous pressure and we weren't able to create as much going forward. We also struggled to hold the ball up and play precise passes to our attacking players.
Felipe Santana: To beat a team like Wolfsburg after not kicking a ball in three months makes me very happy. Now I have to rest a bit so I can play against Chelsea [in the UEFA Champions League] on Tuesday. I wasn't surprised to be named in the starting line-up - I've been in close contact with the coach all week. I'm happy to be back on the pitch and to be able to help my team.
VfL Wolfsburg
Diego Benaglio: We were too sloppy and didn't get close enough to our opponents. We made life easy for Schalke and made one or two needless mistakes. I didn't read the situation well enough with Fuchs' free-kick - I take full responsibility for that.
Ricardo Rodriguez: Schalke played very well and we didn't get close enough to them. They scored three goals, but we had a great chance at 1-0 and if we score that, things might have gone a little differently. We have to focus on our next game now though.
Naldo: That's football - if you you're not completely focused, you get punished. Schalke's first two goals were far too easy for them. We made too many mistakes and only really reacted after half an hour when we were 3-0 down, which was too late.
Watch Boateng's sublime assist for Choupo-Moting's second goal on the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel:
