Draxler Injured As Schalke Win

Roberto di Matteo's promising start continued, despite the turgid performance from the Royal Blues. But the mood was already dampened not long after the match got underway.

Julian Draxler looks set to be out of action for several weeks after he aggravated an earlier hamstring injury 20 seconds after kick-off. Schalke eventually ran out 1-0 winners against FC Augsburg, but their focus will be on the recovery of the prodigious 21-year-old midfielder.



Jens Keller's successor Roberto di Matteo, a former Champions League winner at Chelsea, has solidified Schalke's fortunes in recent weeks. The defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last week was a slight blemish on his start to life in Gelsenkirchen with the Swiss-born coach now winning all three of his home matches, in all competitions.



Chinedu Obasi was the replacement for Draxler who was carried off in the first minute of the game. But Augsburg looked as though they were intent on bringing an end to a dismal away record this season.



Alexander Esswein snatched at a decent opportunity in the 14th minute, skewing his right-foot volley miles off target after a sweet, chipped cross from Ahmed Baba. The Bavarian club were the more cohesive side, but struggled to go one step further than finding a small sight of goal.



The Hunter strikes



Indeed, it was a basic error from the visitors, which freed up the room for Schalke to break the deadlock after 37 minutes.



Atsuto Uchida, Schalke's right-back who signed a new contract yesterday, moved eagerly into the vacated left-back space, sliding the ball across the six-yard-box and into the perfect spot for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to prod home his seventh goal of the season.



Markus Weinzierl's Augsburg, who could have moved into European position with three points, started the second-half with the same purpose as the first. But in similar fashion, they failed to really test Ralf Fahrmann.



The first serious time the Schalke keeper was called into action was in the 67th minute. Bobadilla's hidden quick-feet deceived several Schalke defenders, the fortuitous break of the ball, introducing Altintop who struck straight at the goalie from 10 yards out.



As the game opened up towards the end, there were chances for either side. Obasi failed to convert from a few yards out, while in the 92nd minute, substitute Tim Matavz dragged a shot from a promising position wide of Fährmann's post.



Augsburg's awful run of form away from home continues - seven points collected from a possible 30 in the league - following this dogged Schalke performance. But as the fans filtered out of the Veltins Arena, the focus remains on Draxler.