Choupo-Moting: 'We belong up at the top'
FC Schalke 04 are a side on the up, with positive results coming from the recent UEFA Europa League clash with APOEL FC and Sunday's trip to Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
'Our performance was good'
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the Royal Blues' only goal in that game to end his 13-game top-flight league drought. The 26-year-old spoke exclusively to bundesliga.com after Sunday's 1-1 draw at the BayArena.
bundesliga.com: Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, you were just four minutes away from being the man of the moment, with goals potentially earning your team two 1-0 wins. Leverkusen may have denied you late on, but how much good has this week done you?
Choupo-Moting: Of course it's been great for me to celebrate scoring two goals, and for the team to take a win and a draw from these two matches. Getting a 1-1 in Leverkusen is fine, even if it's disappointing to concede an equaliser just before the end. We didn't play badly. Leverkusen had the better chances in the first period, but then it was our turn in the second. The result is a good 1-1 and we want to be positive and maybe do a thing or two better next week and keep our concentration high to the end. I have a good feeling we're going to beat Hannover at home [on Friday].
bundesliga.com: Do you get the impression that after going seven games without a win, Schalke have now turned the corner?
Choupo-Moting: I think so, yes. Our aim going into the APOEL game was to start picking up points again, no matter how. Even if we didn't get rave reviews for that game, I don't think it was as bad as people are making it out to have been. If we'd won by a greater margin, then I don't think anybody would have argued. It was a win, after all. That was a very important step for us, and we didn't lose in Leverkusen today, which is another one. It's always difficult at Leverkusen, they're one of the best teams in Germany. We were close to getting a win, but it just wasn't to be. Our performance was good, though.
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