Schalke 04 have Manuel Neuer and a large slice of luck to thank as they head into halftime level with Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion. Dortmund started by far the better of the two sides, and although Schalke have improved from the first ten minutes when it was truly all BVB, the home side look much more likely to claim victory in the second forty-five minutes.
Borussia Dortmund Vs. Schalke 04: First-Half Stalemate In Scoreline Only
Perhaps the best chance of the game so far came in the thirty-fifth minute, as Mario Götze put Lucas Barrios clean through on goal, but Barrios shot wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was booked shortly after for throwing a mini-tantrum at the referee after Mr. Michael Weiner had signaled his header over the bar had not been deflected, giving Dortmund a goal kick. Lukas Schmitz has also been shown a yellow card for a foul on Jakub Blaszczkowski, and free-kicks for each side near the end of the first half didn’t yield the breakthrough both sides have been looking for.
Schalke’s fullbacks, Atsuto Uchida and Lukas Schmitz, have both been beaten repeatedly, and the central defensive pairing of Benedickt Höwedes and Christoph Metzelder hasn’t done very well either. Felipe Santana has tended to defer to Mats Hummels, but both have had a reasonable game in defence for Dortmund. Mario Götze and Blaszczykowski have been excellent so far, in stark contrast to Schalke’s nearly-anonymous forward pairing of Raúl and Huntelaar.
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