Schalke secured their opening win of the UEFA Champions League group phase as they saw off Benfica.
Farfan and Huntelaar on target
Schalke secured their opening win of the UEFA Champions League group phase as they sealed a hard fought 2-0 win over Benfica.
The home crowd at the AufSchalke Arena left happy courtesy of two goals in the last 17 minutes from Jefferson Farfan and Klass-Jan Hunterlaar.
The fact Farfan's goal was only Schalke's second shot on target summed up what was a pretty arduous game as both sides looked determined not to lose.
Schalke had earlier hit the post through Raul, whilst Benfica went close on a couple of rare forays into the box but it was Felix Magath's men who registered a precious win in Group B.
The game was wrapped up with five minutes left when a mistake from David Luiz was pounced upon by Schalke and substitute Jermaine Jones fired the ball into the box where Huntelaar was there to slide the ball home.
Schalke are now unbeaten in their past three games in all competitions, with Huntelaar scoring in all of those, in a run which ended their horrendous five-game losing sequence to start the season.
Schalke lost 1-0 at Lyon in the middle of that losing sequence, but they always looked the more likely to bounce back with a win.
Raul hit a post in the opening period that the hosts slowly took control of.
They threatened first when Ivan Rakitic was fouled by Javi Garcia on the left. The Croatian stepped up to take the free-kick but his goal-bound effort was punched clear by Roberto.
Good chance
Javier Saviola then spurned Benfica's first sight on goal, and possibly their best of the game, when he side-footed wide of the left post from 12 yards.
Roberto was again in the action to save from Lukas Schmitz and as the match went beyond the half hour mark Schalke's dominance was clear.
Raul almost converted that onto the scoreboard when his left-footed strike from 12 yards thudded against the post before Huntelaar tried his luck from range but fired over.
Rakitic was denied by Roberto again to keep the scores deadlocked at the break.
Four minutes after the restart Schmitz shot wide from 20 yards, but it was a rare chance as the second period began slowly.
Farfan briefly had a sight of goal but his effort was blocked by David Luiz.
The Brazilian defender was them fouled at the other end but substitute Pablo Aimar's free-kick delivery was caught by Manuel Neuer.
There looked little hope of a goal in the game before Farfan broke the deadlock 17 minutes from full-time.
The Peru international was given space on the right-hand side of the area and he needed no second invitation to again try his luck with a low drive, which put his side ahead.
With time ticking down Huntelaar then maintained his recent scoring run with a goal from 12 yards to seal a first home win in all competitions this season.
| FC Schalke 04 |
Team Statistics |
Benfica |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 6 |
Corners |
9 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.9 |
Passing Success |
74.1 |
| 36 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 80.6 |
Tackles Success |
83.3 |
| 51.8 |
Possession |
48.2 |
| 53.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.2 |
|
