FC Köln vs Schalke 04: Ciprian Marica Was The Hero --- Yes, Really!

Read More: Mario Gomez (F - Germany), Lukas Podolski (F - Germany), Atsuto Uchida (DEFENDER - Japan), Milivoje Novakovic (F - Slovenia)

There are ninety minutes in a match, and Köln learned that lesson emphatically on Saturday at the hands of Schalke.

Things started brightly for The Billy Goats. Schalke defender Atsuto Uchida cleared an attempt by Milivoje Novakovic from a Lukas Podolski corner. Just a minute later, Marco Höger was caught in possession around midfield. Novakovic fed the ball to Podolski who dribbled to the edge of the area and his shot ripped the back of the net past Lars Unnerstall. The clock was showing four minutes past and Köln were leading Schalke 1-0.

Schalke pressed forward looking for goals that were sure to come. They maintained a decent shape wary of Köln's quick counter ability. Schalke were caught out again before the half, but Podolski's shot missed high.

With Raul out for today's match, Huub Stevens decided to put his faith in Romanian forward Ciprian Marica to replace him. His first hour on the pitch was nothing to remember, however this changed quickly. Christian Fuchs broke down the left sideline and played an inch-perfect cross, and Marica rose to meet it. Schalke found their equalizer. The route was on.

Twelve minutes later, Chinedu Obasi played a cross to the head of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Hunter saw his head smash against the post, but Marica was behind him to put in the rebound.

Huntelaar got his goal minutes later on a penalty that was drawn by Julian Draxler. The Dutch international now has 16 goals on the season, just one behind Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez.

Höger was able to make amends for his error leading the the lone Köln goal with just minutes remaning. He played the ball out wide to Jose Jurado Jurado before making a run into the box. Jurado fed the ball back to him in the perfect location unmarked in the six yard box, and the defender slotted it home to complete the 4-1 victory.

The win pulls Schalke level on points with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but they sit in third in the table due to goal differential.