Schalke too sharp for APOEL

FC Schalke 04 have one foot in the UEFA Cup group stage after goals from Heiko Westermann, Ivan Rakitić, Vicente Sánchez and Halil Altıntop earned Fred Rutten's side a convincing 4-1 victory away to APOEL FC.

First-half domination
Schalke raced into a 3-0 half-time lead. Westermann got the scoring under way on 25 minutes, driving a fierce low shot beyond the reach of the Michalis Morfis and the goalkeeper was beaten again eleven minutes later after the unmarked Rakitić fired into the top right. An unmarked Vicente Sánchez made it 3-0 before the break when his powerful shot took a wicked deflection off defender Altin Haxhi to wrong-foot Morfis.

Hosts response
APOEL could have folded, but they showed more grit in the second period. The hosts were unfortunate not to score when Joost Broerse's free-kick came crashing off the bar but five minutes later Nenad Mirosavljević, introduced as a substitute just seven minutes earlier, tapped into an open net after good work from Christos Kontis. But it was another substitute who was to have the last word as Schalke's Altıntop collected a pass from the outstanding Jefferson Farfán and beat Morfis with a delicate chip.