in startling goalscoring form for club and country, klaas-jan huntelaar is hoping some of his magic will start to rub off on struggling fc schalke 04, noting: "our confidence is a bit low."
last season's surprise package in germany, fc schalke 04 have made headlines for the wrong reasons this time round. the form of dutch striker klaas-jan huntelaar has at least given fans in gelsenkirchen something to cheer about.
the 27-year-old has scored in his last eight games for club and country – nine goals in total – and 14 times in 12 games in all competitions since his switch from ac milan. having failed to find the target in the matchday 1 loss at olympique lyonnais, 'the hunter' scored in schalke's 2-0 win against sl benfica last time out and is eager to continue his golden streak as hapoel tel-aviv fc come calling.
"i've never had as good a spell as this one when it comes to scoring," said the one-time sc heerenveen, afc ajax and real madrid cf man. "however, i don't like to look back – i want to look forward."
when it comes to explaining his current run of form, huntelaar offered: "i give it all i have in every game." however, perhaps more enlighteningly given the trouble he had getting regular games at madrid and then milan, he added: "i like the team and the people, but the most important thing is that i'm getting to play for 90 minutes. that's important for a player. i can feel the faith in me."
coach felix magath has denied that huntelaar is the only member of the schalke side pulling his weight at the moment, explaining: "the team is playing for him. given his skill, he is being picked out by his team-mates. raúl [gonzález] is also playing a big part; he draws attention and markers away to leave space for huntelaar to exploit. huntelaar asserts himself and is scoring at will. he has real class, as can be seen in almost every game."
all the striker needs now is for his form to lift his team-mates. "the next two matches in the champions league are very important for us," he said. "anything is possible with a good performance. i think if we had won our last game [a 2-2 draw against vfb stuttgart on saturday], everything would be fine, but that's football. our confidence is a bit low. if you win, everything is easier. if you lose, everything is more difficult."
defeat by a hapoel side propping up group b would be a minor calamity in such circumstances, but huntelaar is hoping that – perhaps for the first time this season – his side can profit from the misfortune of others. "[hapoel] are a good side, but like all teams they make mistakes," he explained. "we can win if we exploit those lapses."
raúl gonzález took his european goal tally to 70 with two well-taken strikes as the hosts eased to a second successive home win in group b.
raúl gonzález, the record scorer in uefa champions league history, struck his first goals in the competition for fc schalke 04 as the german club consolidated second spot in group b.
after finding the net 66 times for real madrid cf, raúl endeared himself to the schalke faithful with vintage finishes past hapoel tel-aviv fc goalkeeper vincent enyeama in the third and 58th minutes. it was a great night for the bundesliga strugglers' spanish connection as josé manuel jurado added an exquisite third to cap a vibrant home performance. etey schechter scored a consolation for hapoel in the final minute of added time.
the crowd had barely settled into their seats when jurado's ball became a defence-splitting pass as klaas-jan huntelaar's clever dummy caught out douglas da silva and raúl pounced, tucking it away with his favoured left foot. huntelaar came into the fixture in prime form, having struck in each of his last eight appearances for club and country. another deft pass from the impressive jurado presented the forward with a chance to extend that formidable record midway through the opening period, only for enyeama to prevail in the one-on-one situation.
huntelaar must have felt it was not to be his night when he hit the crossbar twice with headers in an incredible passage of play in the 57th minute. a minute later the hosts got the second goal they deserved and huntelaar played a critical part in its creation, finding ivan rakitić on the left.
the croatian international's low cross was equally precise, inviting raúl to sweep the ball in, this time with his right boot. enyeama did his best to keep the score down but having parried from jurado, the nigeria goalkeeper could only stand and admire as the diminutive midfielder's next effort, from the left edge of the penalty area, found the back of the net via the inside of the post.
hapoel's neat football, with schechter and gil vermouth to the fore, failed to translate into scoring chances until the very last, when shechter turned the ball past manuel neuer at the second attempt after initially miscontrolling a deep free-kick from substitute salim toama. it was only hapoel's second attempt on target. point-less after three games, hapoel coach eli gutman faces the challenge of lifting his players before the two clubs meet again on november 2.
bundesliga'da düşme hattında yer alan schalke 04, şampiyonlar ligi tarihinin en golcü ismi raul gonzalez'in sahne aldığı maçta israil temsilcisi hapoel tel aviv'i mağlup ederek grubundaki iddiasını sürdürdü.
veltins arena'da oynanan karşılaşmada, henüz 3. dakikada jurado'nun defansın arasına gönderdiği pasta huntelaar klas bir hareketle topun üstünden atladı ve bir anda kaleciyle karişı karşıya kalan raul, köşeye plase vuruşla takımını öne geçirdi. 1-0
58. dakikada ise, rakitic huntelaar ile yaptığı şık verkaçın ardından müsait durumdaki raul'u gördü ve ispanyol yıldız da kolay bir gole imza atarak bir kez daha sahneye çıktı. 2-0
şampiyonlar ligi tarihinin en skorer ismi olma unvanını elinde bulunduran 33 yaşındaki futbolcu, böylelikle yeni takımı schalke'deki ilk avrupa kupası golünü kaydederken, turnuvadaki toplam gol sayısını da 68'e çıkarıp rekorunu geliştirdi.
yardımcı hakemler: george drummond (sco), keith sorbie (sco)
4. hakem: crawford allan (sco)
çizgi hakemleri: euan norris (sco), mike tumilty (sco)
schalke: manuel neuer (gk) (c), benedikt höwedes, raúl gonzález, lukas schmitz, jefferson farfán (dk. 67 junmin hao), josé manuel jurado, christoph metzelder, atsuto uchida, jermaine jones (dk. 75 joel matip), klaas-jan huntelaar, christoph moritz (dk. 53 ivan rakitić)
yedekler: mathias schober (gk), edu, kyriakos papadopoulos, erik jendrišek
teknik direktör: felix magath (ger)
h. tel-aviv: vincent enyeama (gk), douglas da silva, etey shechter, walid badier (c), gil vermouth, eran zahavi, shay abutbul (dk. 57 salim toama), omri kende, gal shish, avihay yadin (dk. 73 bevan fransman), toto tamuz (dk. 58 ben sahar)
yedekler: galil ben-shanan (gk), dani bondarv, yossi shivhon, victor mare
