Brazilian striker Grafite scored a hat-trick, helping VfL Wolfsburg beat Schalke 04 4-3 on Friday to lift his side into second in the Bundesliga behind leaders Hertha Berlin.
Wolfsburg did not waste their chance to move up the table and close the gap to just a single point, while Grafite has now scored 17 goals in 15 league games. But Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath was unimpressed with his team’s credentials in the title race after they conceded three goals.
“You could see we are not title candidates,” said the former Bayern Munich boss, whose side have lost just five of their 24 games this season. “If you lead 3-1 and 4-2, you need to close the game down. Schalke exposed some of our weaknesses.”
PHOTO: AP
Wolfsburg are unbeaten at home in the league this season, but that record was in danger early on as Schalke’s Germany defender Heiko Westermann’s pin-point accurate shot gave Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio no chance.
His goal after only nine minutes was canceled out when Grafite was brought down in the penalty area, only to gather himself to convert the spot-kick on 26 minutes.
The home side took a 2-1 lead into the break when Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko kept up his remarkable scoring record with his eighth goal in six games to bring his tally to 13 goals in 22 games. Schalke left Dzeko unmarked on 44 minutes and the sharp-shooter slotted his shot past goalkeeper Mathias Schober.
After the break, Grafite knocked in his second when midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic slipped him a pass and the Brazilian found the target again after 74 minutes.
Germany midfielder Jermaine Jones scored just two minutes later to keep Schalke in the game, but Grafite completed his hat-trick when substitute Ashkan Dejagah picked up a loose ball and forced a two-on-three situation. Although the Schalke defense scrambled back, the Germany under-21 star tried a shot and Grafite was on hand to make sure the ball crossed the goal line on 84 minutes to claim his third goal of the night.
With time running out, former Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi hit a final consolation goal deep in injury-time.
Earlier on Friday, Werder Bremen president Juergen Born resigned amidst an investigation into fraud allegations.
“I give up with immediate effect my role within the club. I do not want to burden Werder. I can assure that I did not benefit to the detriment of the club. But it will take time to verify that fact,” Born said.
Born, a former banker, is the subject of a German federal investigation into the transfer of two South American players.
Born faces allegations of receiving money in an account in his son’s name for the transfer of Peruvian attacker Robert Silva in 2001 and for the extended contract of Paraguayan Nelson Valdez in 2003.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but