27th matchday
Schalke bottom again: defeat at TSG Hoffenheim
Schalke have fallen back to last place in the table. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Twice aluminum, but never in the net: Schalke is defeated by Hoffenheim in the relegation battle – although the supporters almost make it a home game.
Schalke fans undauntedly waved their flags as the players trotted into the guest corner with their heads bowed and applauded thanks for the support.
Even with well over 10,000 loud fans traveling behind them, FC Schalke 04 suffered another setback in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga. Coach Thomas Reis’ team lost the last game of the 27th matchday at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0:2 (0:1).
The Royal Blues slipped back down to last place in the table. The Gelsenkirchen team fell behind in front of 30,150 spectators in the Sinsheimer Stadion through an own goal by Alexander Kral (22nd minute). Ihlas Bebou increased the lead to 2-0 (70′) with a penalty kick and at the second attempt. “Today there was pressure on the boiler,” said Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann on the DAZN streaming service. The win was “extremely important”. “It’s nice to see everyone fighting for success and not relegation. Stay humble and keep going,” he said.
S04 coach Reis: “That was absolutely not enough”
“If you talk about the relegation battle, I’ve only seen one team that invested in it, and that was Hoffenheim. That was absolutely not enough. The first half wasn’t worthy of the relegation battle,” criticized Schalke’s coach Thomas Reis. “Today was a great setting, there were a lot of spectators from us, we wanted to play a good game there too. Maybe that was a bit of a barrier, it shouldn’t really be a barrier,” said the coach.
“It hurts,” said Schalke’s Marius Bülter, “we knew how important the game was, what an opportunity we had to climb the table. We didn’t manage it at all – especially in the first half.” Goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann now sees “a final” against Hertha BSC next Friday.
Hoffenheim distances Schalke to seven points
With the third win in a row, the Kraichgauer in 14th place distanced their competitor Schalke to seven points and gained more breathing room in the fight for remaining in the class. On the other hand, it was the second defeat in a row for the Royal Blues and the first on a foreign pitch in the second half of the season, after the club had previously remained unbeaten in eight games and had high hopes again.
The fact that the visiting fans were wildly determined to take over the vocal superiority in the arena was already evident before kick-off: they drowned out the “Badnerlied” from the loudspeakers with shouts of Schalke and waved their blue and white flags almost halfway across the arena. After just 30 seconds, the supporters from Gelsenkirchen already had the goal scream on their lips: Marius Bülter’s ball landed on the top edge of the crossbar. Less than a minute later, Christoph Baumgartner headed over the beam from five meters away.
Special game for Baumann and Rudy
For the attacking Hoffenheim team, Grischa Prömel’s comeback, promised by Pellegrino Matarazzo, had to wait six months after his ankle fracture: the midfielder wasn’t in the squad after all. It was a special game for goalkeeper Oliver Baumann: The captain became the sole record holder with 289 Bundesliga games for TSG – but only for a good hour. Then substitute ex-national player Sebastian Rudy drew level with him again.
After the turbulent opening minutes, Schalke kept coming under pressure. A sharp cross from Angeliño deflected Kral into his own goal to make it 0:1. The Royal Blues – mostly driven by Rodrigo Salazar – rarely played cleverly forward. Maya Yoshida headed to the post after 24 minutes.
Jöllenbeck has the penalty repeated
It also started turbulently after the restart: Bülter crashed into the corner flag after a duel, the handle of which promptly broke. The offensive man had a clear path shortly afterwards, but his shot went just wide of the Hoffenheim goal. Schalke obviously tried to be more attacking in the hectic game, but could hardly find any gaps.
When captain Yoshida then pulled Baumgartner off his feet at the edge of the penalty area, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck awarded a penalty. Bebou failed in the first attempt by goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, but the referee had the penalty repeated after video evidence: Fährmann had moved away from the goal line too early – and Bebou then scored to make it 2-0. Youngster Tom Bischof (17) missed the 3:0 while standing free – the ball landed high in the south curve.