Schalke picked up their first points in the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 success at Rosenborg.
Second-half goals from Jones and Kuranyi
Schalke picked up their first points in the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 success at Rosenborg.
At a vibrant Lerkendal, the breakthrough arrived on 62 minutes when Jermaine Jones finished coolly after a quickly-taken free-kick.
And with Rosenborg pressing for an equaliser, Kevin Kuranyi caught the home side out on the counter-attack with Schalke's second goal a minute from time.
The game started in frenetic fashion with Schalke forcing a succession of corners after Jones' volley had deflected wide.
Exposed
Rosenborg's slipshod defending in the early stages was exposed by Rafinha's teasing ball into the box on seven minutes, but Kuranyi turned his shot over from close range.
Schalke almost gifted the Norwegians a goal on nine minutes when Heiko Westermann headed the ball over Manuel Neuer, but the German keeper scrambled back to desperately clear by palming the ball back off the post.
The visitors then went straight up the other end as Zlatan Bajramovic was played through, but his low shot was saved by the legs of Lars Hirschfeld.
Kuranyi screwed his shot off target from Marcelo Bordon's long ball, but the drama of the opening 12 minutes quickly faded away.
Abdou Razack Toure should have done better on the half-hour mark for Rosenborg, but he lifted his shot over the bar.
Schalke striker Kuranyi came close to an opening goal on 35 minutes, but his acrobatic volley, from Jones' knock-down, was just off target.
Jones brought the first-half action to a close by shooting straight at Hirschfeld and got things going in the second period as his low cross just eluded Peter Lovekrands.
Ingenuity
Former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen nodded a good chance wide at the far post for Rosenborg as the game descended into a scrappy affair once more.
But a moment of ingenuity on 62 minutes brought Schalke a goal as Ivan Ratikic chipped a quick free-kick into Jones, who had sprung the Rosenborg offside trap before chesting the ball under control and clipping his shot past Hirschfeld.
With Rosenborg having sent men forward in search of an equaliser, Schalke hit the hosts with a sucker-punch on 89 minutes.
A raking pass released Kuranyi on the left and he cut back inside before curling his shot inside the far post.
| Rosenborg |
Team Statistics |
FC Schalke 04 |
|
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
|
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
|
| 0 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
|
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
|
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
|
| 5 |
Corners |
10 |
|
| 20 |
Fouls |
15 |
|
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
|
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
|
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
|
| 69.6 |
Passing Success |
82.5 |
|
| 27 |
Tackles |
22 |
|
| 63 |
Tackles Success |
68.2 |
|
| 44.5 |
Possession |
55.5 |
|
| 56.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.1 |
|
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| |
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