Raul lands knockout blow
A goal after 15 minutes by Raul was enough to guide Schalke to the final of the DFB-Pokal Cup where they will meet Duisburg following a narrow win at Bayern Munich.
Former Spain striker Raul headed home two minutes after his half-volley was cleared off the line by Mario Gomez and, although Bayern piled on the pressure in the second half they could not find the equaliser, Franck Ribery shooting straight at Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with three minutes left.
In an open game, Raul almost opened the scoring when his left-footed half-volley was headed for the bottom corner only for Gomez to intervene.
However, the visitors took the lead when Jefferson Farfan’s corner was headed towards goal by Benedikt Hoewedes, with Raul getting the final touch to head into the top left-hand corner.
Arjen Robben shot into the side netting for Bayern but Schalke were on top. Raul released Farfan but after he turned inside, his shot was weak.
Hoewedes’ header was destined for the right corner but Thomas Mueller cleared off the line as Schalke finished the first half in command.
However, it was all Bayern after the break.
Danijel Pranjic’s low left-footed ball across the six-yard box just evaded Gomez and Robben, before Neuer was equal to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s header, pulling off a fine one-handed save.
Farfan nipped in but put the ball over before Bayern had a late chance to equalise. Klose squared the ball to Ribery who shot from eight yards out, but put the ball straight into the hands of Neuer.
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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