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Schalke beats Lyon 3-0 to advance
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored in each half to help Schalke beat Lyon 3-0 on Wednesday as both teams advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Jefferson Farfan scored in the 13th minute and Huntelaar added the second in the 20th in a dominant first half for Schalke. Lyon put up more of a fight in the second half but Huntelaar finished off a counterattack in the 89th to complete the victory.
The victory gave Schalke 10 points in Group B, while Lyon stayed on nine, with one round of matches remaining. Lyon benefited from Hapoel Tel Aviv's 3-0 victory over Benfica to clinch the second spot in the knockout stage of the competition. Benfica has six points and Hapoel four.
Schalke produced one of its best performances of the season to win its third straight home game in the Champions League.
Felix Magath's team went ahead after Raul Gonzalez had his attempt blocked, but Farfan stroked the loose ball inside the right post.
Seven minutes later, Peer Kluge broke through on the left and sent a low ball inside, Raul let it pass into the path of Huntelaar while drawing a defender and the Dutch striker scored into the same corner as Farfan.
''That's exactly what we had in mind, to try to charge down the flanks,'' Magath said after the game. ''We were in the game from the opening whistle.''
''We were proclaimed dead a few weeks ago but now we'll be in the Champions League next year,'' said Magath, whose team struggled at the start of the season, especially in the Bundesliga. ''This is a great success for us. Our defense is now more stable than before.''
Farfan was booked in the 30th as he sought to earn a penalty. The Peru striker pushed the ball past Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, then tripped over the Frenchman and Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli gave him a yellow card for diving. Farfan will be suspended for Schalke's final match at Benfica.
Lloris then had a good save when he tipped over a clever long-range lob from Raul.
With time running out, Huntelaar's deflected shot caught Lloris on the wrong foot for the final score.
''We are beginning function as a unit, we are defending much better,'' said central defender Christoph Metzelder. ''But we always were a different team in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga.''
Raul failed to score and raise his record of 70 goals in European competition, but worked well for the team.
''We played a really good game,'' Raul said. ''We are a newly formed team and we need time to gel but we are gaining confidence day by day.''
