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Borussia Dortmund lose to FC Schalke
Schalke 04 beat rivals Borussia Dortmund 1-0 away in a tense local derby on Sunday
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:04 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Dortmund:
FC Schalke lost three of their first four matches this season and were in 15th place when coach Jupp Heynckes was sacked and replaced by Ralf Rangnick. Since then they have been on a winning run. On Sunday they faced Borussia Dortmund in front of a massive 83-thousand crowd at the Westfalenstadion in what is always a hotly contested local derby between two side separated by only 25 miles (40 kms), but by 12 places in the Bundeliga. And almost immediately there were chances for either team. Good opportunities A chip upfield by Schalke's Gerald Asamoah found Lincoln, who in turn found Ailt on but his shot blocked by Roman Weidenfeller. Then Dortmund had arguably their best chance of the game - an interception by Dede and he was suddenly in space with only the keeper to beat. It was a great opportunity to go ahead and he was left to rue the wasted chance. The breakthrough came from Ailton after some great play around the Dortmund box. A cross by Hamit Altintop found Levan Kobiashvili. After some deft footwork, he passed to Ailton in space. The Brazilian made no mistake, pushing the ball under Weidenfeller for his sixth Bundesliga goal of the season. The second half saw Dortmund emerge with a greater sense of urgency. They put together several promising attacks on goal - but this was probably their best - a long-range strike by Tomas Rosicky that rebounded off keeper Frank Rost. Lead shared Unfortunately, Dede was just too late to take advantage of the loose ball. The score remained 1-0 to the visitors and they now share the lead at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich on 33 points. Dortmund's woes continue and pressure could well be mounting on coach Bert van Marwijk. Germany's second biggest club and the 1997 Champions League winners, they now fall to 14th and near the relegation zone. Schalke on the other hand, spent the most money on new players in the league and have been well rewarded. Ailton, last year's top scorer with 28 goals at Bremen, has been in great form, while Kaiserslautern castoff Lincoln has drawn praise as the team's playmaker. Two highly respected defenders, Bremen's Mladen Krstajic and Stuttgart's Marcelo Bordon, have also shored up the defence. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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