published: tuesday 26 november 2013, 23.02cet fc steaua bucureşti 0-0 fc schalke 04
schalke will host fc basel 1893 on matchday six needing a victory to leapfrog their opponents after slipping to third in group e with this draw.
fc schalke 04 were left frustrated after failing to break down a spirited fc steaua bucureşti side in uefa champions league group e.
the result leaves the bundesliga team needing to defeat fc basel 1893, who usurped them by going second in the section with a 1-0 defeat of chelsea fc, at home on matchday six to qualify for the last 16. for steaua, a third draw in succession means they will finish bottom of the pile.
shorn of first-choice goalkeeper timo hildebrand and leading striker kevin-prince boateng through injury, not to mention flu-victim julian draxler, schalke might have surveyed the snowy scene inside the arena națională and decided the night was not for them.
ınstead they relished the challenge and pushed forward with gusto, max meyer doing his best to lessen the impact of draxler's absence with a number of darting runs and clever prompts. the threat was mainly down schalke's left flank, but jefferson farfán was also making his presence felt on the right as he returned to this stage following injury.
so comfortable were the visitors for the first 30 minutes that ralf fährmann was enjoying the quietest of uefa champions league debuts as hildebrand's replacement. he watched one instinctive effort from federico piovaccari sail over his crossbar but was otherwise unemployed.
then, following a free-kick, florin gardoş headed the ball back into the danger area, where piovaccari took off for a spectacular volley which the goalkeeper did well to keep out. just before that farfán had come close to giving schalke the lead as he met a dangerous cross from christian fuchs with a first-time volley. ıf anything the connection was too good and over it went.
steaua showed more penetration after the break and the game remained on a knife-edge. ın a flurry of activity in front of fährmann's goal, alexandru chipciu and andrei prepeliţă were unable to conjure a shooting chance with the schalke defence at sixes and sevens. at the other end, benedikt höwedes came close with a header.
ıt got more desperate nearer the final whistle. a victory was so important to both teams and steaua were striving in vain not to equal the record for the longest sequence of winless games in this competition: 22. the home crowd thought nicolae stanciu was about to make the decisive intervention when put clear, but fährmann read his attempted chip.
yardımcı hakemler: rob van de ven (ned), charles schaap (ned)
4. hakem: davie goossens (ned)
çizgi hakemleri: serdar gözübüyük (ned), ed janssen (ned)
steaua: ciprian tătăruşanu(gk), Łukasz szukała, florin gardoş, alexandru chipciu (dk. 77 gabriel iancu), cristian tănase, andrei prepeliţă (dk. 82 nicolae stanciu), iasmin latovlevici, federico piovaccari, ionuţ neagu (dk. 46 fernando varela), alexandru bourceanu(c), adrian popa
yedekler: florin niță (gk), daniel georgievski, adrian cristea, pantelis kapetanos
teknik direktör: laurenţiu reghecampf (rou)
schalke: ralf fährmann (gk), benedikt höwedes (c), felipe santana, max meyer (dk. 74 julian draxler), jermaine jones, dennis aogo, jefferson farfán, atsuto uchida, christian fuchs (dk. 88 chinedu obasi), ádám szalai, roman neustädter
yedekler: lars unnerstall (gk), tim hoogland, sead kolasinac, kaan ayhan, joel matip
teknik direktör: jens keller (ger)
sarı kartlar: dk. 45+1 alexandru bourceanu(c), dk. 77 florin gardoş, dk. 86 federico piovaccari, (steaua) dk. 42 roman neustädter, dk. 75 jermaine jones, dk. 88 christian fuchs, (schalke)
e grubu'nda steaua bükreş'e konuk olan schalke, zorlu deplasmanda bir puana razı oldu.
şampiyonlar ligi e grubu'nda schalke, steaua bükreş deplasmanında rakibiyle 0-0 berabere kalarak gruptan çıkma umutlarını son maça taşıdı.
karşılşamanın ilk yarısında oyunun kontrolü schalke'de olsa da, alman temsilcisi rakip sahada istediği boşlukları bulmakta zorlandı. 20. dakikada neustadter'in kullandığı köşe vuruşu sonrasında ceza sahası içinde topu önünde bulan farfan'ın vuruşunda top az farkla auta gitti.
29. dakikada sağ kanattan hareketlenen fuchs'un yerden içeri doğru çevirdiği topa farfan vuruşunu yaptı ama yıldız futbolcu bu pozisyondan da sonuç alamadı ve ilk 45 dakika golsüz eşitlikle sona erdi.
ikinci yarıda da schalke baskısı devam etti. 62. dakikada farfan'ın kullandığı köşe vuruşunda höwedes arka direkte kafa vuruşunu yaptı ama top üstten dışarı gitti.
78'de aogo'nun kullandığı serbest vuruşta adam szalai'nin kafa vuruşunda top yine çerçeveyi bulmadı ve 90 dakika 0-0'lık eşitlikle sona erdi.
bu sonuçla schalke 7 puanla üçüncü sıraya gerilerken, steaua bükreş ise gruptaki 3. puanını aldı.
