rául gonzález hopes his goal for fc schalke 04 on saturday proves the first of many as the german side look to put a poor start behind them by getting the better of sl benfica.
rául gonzález could not have imagined a more difficult start to his fc schalke 04 career as felix magath's side crashed to defeat in their opening five games this season. but after picking up his first win in a schalke shirt a week ago then earning a point with his first goal on saturday, things are looking up.
"i don't regret [moving] at all, neither professionally nor on a personal level," rául said ahead of wednesday's uefa champions league group b meeting with sl benfica. "we lost a lot of games at the beginning of the season, but we want to change that trend for good tomorrow."
the moment rául and schalke had been waiting for came with three minutes to play against vfl borussia mönchengladbach on saturday. trailing 2-0, fellow summer signing klaas-jan huntelaar pulled one back early in the second half before rául held off two defenders and struck with a low shot.
"i'm very happy to have scored my first goal," rául said. "it's definitely important for my confidence and morale. i feel better with every game and am becoming more used to things. i feel accepted, that i've arrived." felix magath, his coach, was also delighted, saying: "i believe this goal will give him a boost. you can see he is the right man for us in attack. he is always dangerous."
magath will be hoping the goals start to flow as schalke look to make up for their opening-day loss to olympique lyonnais when they take on portuguese champions benfica. "we're counting on experienced players like raúl and huntelaar, who know this competition, the atmosphere that surrounds it and are lifted by the occasion," magath said. "i hope they'll lead the way for the young players."
raúl won the uefa champions league three times in his 16-year madrid career and will strive to make his knowledge count. "it's up to the experienced players to guide and motivate the younger ones," he said, adding he is confident schalke can turn the corner. "we are in a good position now with back-to-back home games. benfica are a good side, they won their championship last year and are strong defensively. but the group is open, everything is possible."
for a long time it seemed neither side would break the deadlock, but goals from jefferson farfán and klaas-jan huntelaar edged it for the hosts.
fc schalke 04 put their difficult start to the season behind them as two second-half goals got them off the mark in group b against sl benfica.
jefferson farfán justified felix magath's faith in handing him a starting berth in place of jermaine jones by breaking the deadlock of a previously tight contest 17 minutes from time. klaas-jan huntelaar then sealed the points late on to extend his scoring streak to four goals in as many games. portuguese champions benfica enjoyed plenty of possession but were unable to translate that into a series of serious attempts on goal.
the visitors were quicker out of the blocks, though. they threatened down the left and won a succession of corners, one nearly led to the opener in the seventh minute, when luisão brought the best out of manuel neuer with a clever back-heel. raúl gonzález almost delighted the home fans with what would have been a maiden uefa champions league goal in schalke colours, after a record 66 for real madrid cf, hitting the upright just before the interval after an exquisite one-two with compatriot josé manuel jurado. ivan rakitić forced roberto into a fine save from the rebound.
visiting coach jorge jesus decided to change things around on the hour, introducing pablo aimar in place of javier saviola. however, both sides looked bereft of ideas before farfán struck – an assured diagonal finish past roberto from lukas schmitz's testing cross. raúl then played a key part in huntelaar scoring to seal the points five minutes from time, dispossessing david luiz and feeding substitute jones on the left. checking his run, huntelaar remained onside and steered jones' low cross into the net from close range for his first european goal for schalke.
the relief around the arena aufschalke was palpable as magath's side held on to win at home for the first time since mid-april. benfica have to pick themselves up for the matchday 3 trip to olympique lyonnais, while schalke will bid for a second successive home win against hapoel tel-aviv fc.
yardımcı hakemler: renato faverani (ita), andrea stefani (ita)
4. hakem: emidio morganti (ita)
çizgi hakemleri: mauro bergonzi (ita), antonio damato (ita)
schalke: manuel neuer (gk) (c), raúl gonzález, ivan rakitić (dk. 66 jermaine jones), lukas schmitz, kyriakos papadopoulos, jefferson farfán, josé manuel jurado (dk. 78 peer kluge), christoph metzelder, atsuto uchida (dk. 58 hans sarpei), klaas-jan huntelaar, joel matip
yedekler: mathias schober (gk), nicolas plestan, edu, erik jendrišek
teknik direktör: felix magath (ger)
benfica: roberto (gk), luisão (c), javi garcía, óscar cardozo (dk. 71 alan kardec), maxi pereira, carlos martins, fábio coentrão, nicolás gaitán (dk. 46 eduardo salvio), david luiz, césar peixoto, javier saviola (dk. 63 pablo aimar)
yedekler: moreira (gk), airton, felipe menezes, sidnei
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