Schalke wins 2-1 in Hamburg, Bremen loses 3-2

Posted Monday, October 03, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Klaas Jan Huntelaar’s stylish double gave Schalke coach Huub Stevens a winning return to the Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory over Hamburger SV on Sunday.

Huntelaar scored with a fantastic header in the 13th minute, and sealed the win a classy back heel volley in the 73rd, after Mladen Petric pulled one back for Hamburg in the 37th.

Stevens took over on Tuesday after Ralf Rangnick stepped down, and his side is now fourth in the table.

“Every game is important. Of course you like to win the first, bring it home and we did that today,” the Dutchman said.

Schalke is ahead on goal difference from Hannover, which earlier beat second-place Werder Bremen 3-2 in the northern derby. Bremen, which finished the match with 10 men, missed the chance to go level on points with leader Bayern Munich.

Hamburg—which is still looking for a coach following the sacking of Michael Oenning—remains rooted to the bottom of the table with four points from eight games.

“We’re disappointed,” said caretaker coach Rodolfo Cardoso. “It’s not in my hands whether I stay or not. Other people are responsible for that.”

Norway striker Mohammed Abdellaoue scored a hat trick in Hannover, where Werder defender Philipp Bargfrede conceded a penalty after 69 seconds of play with a trip on Lars Stindl.

Abdellaoue converted the spot-kick and the 25-year-old forward added another in the 38th when Jan Schlaudraff ran down the right before curling a cross for the Norwegian to finish ahead of retreating defender Sebastian Proedl.

Abdellaoue thought he was offside when he scored past keeper Sebastian Mielitz from close range in the 60th, after Marko Arnautovic pulled one back for Werder in first half injury time. However, the Norwegian’s goal stood with Bargfrede playing him onside near the corner flag.

“Moa is a real goal machine. We’re happy that he’s at least half fit,” said Hannover coach Mirko Slomka, who took off the striker on completion of his hat trick.

“He still has muscle problems so we didn’t want to take any chances,” Slomka said.

Arnautovic was shown a straight red card for a stamp on Sergio Pinto’s ankle in the 78th minute before Peru striker Claudio Pizarro—who earlier crashed a shot off the post—scored Bremen’s second with a volley in the 83rd.

The visitors found it hard to break through the stubborn Hannover defense, marshaled effectively by U.S. captain Steve Cherundolo and Austria’s Emanuel Pogatetz.

In Hamburg, Schalke’s offseason signing Marco Hoeger sent in a long cross for Huntelaar to power in from distance.

“The ball was far from goal but I thought I’d aim for the far post and it worked out,” Huntelaar said.

Petric should have equalized in the 16th minute, when the Croatian shot straight at Ralf Faehrmann with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Faehrmann was forced to react again in the 33rd, saving from Goekhan Toere as Hamburg pushed hard for an equalizer.

Petric finally beat Faehrmann at the near post after Hamburg capitalized on a mistake from Benedikt Hoewedes to launch a counterattack with Lam Zhi Gin—in his second appearance—setting up the Croatian.

Jose Paolo Guerrero should have scored for Hamburg in the 51st, after some wonderful work from Toere on the right to tee him up, but the Peruvian blasted his shot high and wide.

Huntelaar scored his seventh goal of the season against the run of play with his second shot on goal. The Dutch striker reached Christian Fuchs’ cross ahead of two Hamburg defenders and glanced the ball over Jaroslav Drobny with the outside of his right heel.

Julian Draxler could have made the game safe in the 83rd, when Jose Manuel Jurado’s clever pass put him one-on-one against Drobny, but the 18-year-old midfielder fired over.

It was the second win for Stevens after Thursday’s 3-1 Europa League win at Maccabi Haifa.