Gelsenkirchen: Edin Dzeko scored twice in the second half for VfL Wolfsburg to give the reigning champions a 2-1 victory at Schalke 04 in a Bundesliga match on Friday.
The victory sees the club from northern Germany avoiding making history by becoming the first reigning champion to lose four games in a row.
The goal for the team now coached by Felix Magath, who last year led Wolfsburg to their first-ever championship, was scored by Benedikt Hoewedes. Neither side managed to score in the first half although last season’s top scorer Grafite had a golden opportunity for Wolfsburg, but slid past a ball played into the centre by Sascha Riether.
Shortly afterwards Schalke players had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down after Wolfsburg captain Josua brought down Rafinha in the area, but the referee waved play on.Dzeko finally broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with a well-taken header after a Wolfsburg corner to score his first goal of the season.
The home side then threw caution to wind and pushed forward in search of an equalizer, which they scored ten minutes from the end through Hoewedes, whose header after a corner gave goalkeeper Andre Lenz no chance.
But even before the stadium announcer had finished announcing the name of the scorer, Dzeko restored the visitors’ lead after being set up Makoto Hasebe.
Former Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi thought he had levelled matters again when his header crashed against the upright and then seemed to cross the line, but the referee again waved play on.
The win sees Armin Veh’s side move to five in the table on nine points, while Schalke remain third on ten.
Table-topping SV Hamburg and second-placed Bayer Leverkusen are on 13 points ahead of their games on the weekend.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, September 19, 2009, 09:44