Gelsenkirchen – Fortuna Düsseldorf has dropped important points in the second division promotion race for the first time after six wins in a row. The third-place team in the second Bundesliga only played 1-1 (0-0) at FC Schalke 04. At least substitute Ao Tanaka (67th) saved coach Daniel Thioune’s team another point. Former Düsseldorf player Kenan Karaman (55th) happily shot Schalke into the lead.
There was excitement in stoppage time when referee Harm Osmers withdrew a penalty for Schalke and a yellow-red card for the alleged culprit Joshua Quarshie after studying the video images.
The Düsseldorf team did not take advantage of second-placed Holstein Kiel’s defeat against Kaiserslautern. With another win against Bundesliga relegated Schalke, Fortuna would have had direct promotion in their own hands in the remaining three games. Now the people of Düsseldorf have to hope for help again. The gap to second place remains five points, the lead over fourth-placed Hamburger SV has shrunk to four points. As third in the table, the Rhinelanders would move into relegation against the third-to-last team in the Bundesliga.
Schalke are at least four points clear of relegation place
Schalke, on the other hand, missed another step towards staying in the league. Schalke go into the last three games of the season with at least four points ahead of the relegation zone.
The West hit only became really intense after Schalke took the lead. Fortuna had a hard time against the compact Schalke team in the first half; the hosts were too harmless on offense. Karaman’s touchdown from the edge of the penalty area was Schalke’s first chance of the game. The guests now became stronger, had better chances and also earned a deserved equalizer. However, the Fortunes, who were now significantly better, were no longer able to do more in the second round.