Aluminum goal, own goal, penalty repeated – Schalke in Hoffenheim unlucky
FC Schalke 04 slipped to the bottom of the table. Thomas Reis’ team lost in Hoffenheim in front of more than 10,000 fans who had traveled with them. Schalke lack the necessary luck in several situations, both front and back.
AWith well over 10,000 loud fans traveling behind them, FC Schalke 04 suffered another setback in the Bundesliga relegation battle. Coach Thomas Reis’ team lost the last game of the 27th matchday on Sunday 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.
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 away 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.
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.
Kral deflects flank to 0:1
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.
Oliver Baumann can only watch. The aluminum saves him from Maya Yoshida’s header
Where: father/firo Sportsphoto/Sebastian El-Saqqa
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 alone – the ball landed high in the south curve.