Schalke 3-3 Hamburg: Late Dramatics As Schalke and Ten-Man Hamburg Share the Spoils

Schalke coach Felix Magath made two changes to the squad that beat Stuttgart 2-1 last week. In central defense, Carlos Zambrano replaced Benedikt Hoewdes, and in attack, Halil Altintop came in for Ivan Rakitic, moving Jefferson Farfan into the hole behind the strikers.

Magath's counterpart, Bruno Labbadia, made just a single adjustment to the team he used in Thursday's win over Celtic. In place of Marcell Jansen, Piotr Trochowski filled in on the right side, moving Eljero Elia back to his favoured left-sided berth.

The game began just as one would expect: Hamburg controlled possession, and Schalke baited their opponents by playing a withdrawn game. On occasion, Schalke would burst forward, with attacking trident Kuranyi, Altintop, and Farfan leading the way forward. Although Ze Roberto did very well to run down his opponents, Kuranyi and Farfan were able to test Frank Rost in the early play, but Hamburg's veteran goalkeeper was unfazed.

With 26 minutes played, Hamburg were able to make use of their possession, taking the lead thanks to some brilliant play from Eljero Elia. The speedy winger raced past Rafinha on the left flank and crept down the byline. As defenders converged on him, the Netherlands international picked out Marcus Berg, who was unmarked in the centre of the penalty area, and comfortably netted.

After the goal, Hamburg settled defensively and looked the more threatening team. Rafinha often tried to spark his team's offense, but Elia was a constant thorn in his side.

Just before the halftime whistle, Schalke midfielder Mineiro was penalized for hand ball, leaving Hamburg with a free kick outside the left of the box. Trochowski stepped forward and converted a brilliant free kick to double his team's advantage.

After the break, Magath replaced Mineiro with Ivan Rakitic, and switched to a 4-3-3 system. Magath's tactical change worked a charm;  the width of 4-3-3 allowed Schalke to combat Hamburg's most dangerous attacking zones, the flanks, and gave Rafinha a bit more defensive support when he ran forward. Desperately in need of a goal, Magath's side pulled one back in the 50th minute, when Kuranyi headed home a Rafinha cross.

Ten minutes later, David Rozehnal was sent off with a straight red card after a terrible foul on Kuranyi. Immediately after the restart and before Jerome Boateng could be substituted in to replace Rozehnal, Lucas Schmitz headed in the equalizer.

After Rozehnal's sending off, it was all Schalke not only in offense, but in midfield. With 20 minutes to go, Mickael Tavares was brought on to provide more defensive cover for the visitors. Magath countered by bringing in Levan Kenia for Lucas Schmitz, in an attempt to press for the winner. The plan utterly backfired when, against the flow of play, Berg completed his brace following a nice pass from Ze Roberto.

Hamburg defended well over the final ten minutes, but Schalke broke through at the death, with Kuranyi heading in a Heiko Westermann cross.

After today's draw, Schalke drop to fourth, and Hamburg reclaim second, level on points with Leverkusen.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com