Bremen win 4-1 at Schalke

Two changes

Mike Büskens made two changes to the side that won 5-2 in Darmstadt last time out. Victor Pálsson replaced Danny Latza in midfield. S04’s captain had to go off injured last time out after a bad bruise, but was fit enough for a place on the bench. The other alteration saw Andreas Vindheim come in for Henning Matriciani at right-back.

Bremen score twice from short corners

The game had barely kicked off before the first chance came at a noisy VELTINS-Arena. Niclas Füllkrug was clean through on goal from a long ball in the first minute and then chipped it over the onrushing Martin Fraisl. Malick Thiaw got back to deny him a goal, though the flag went up anyway. The visitors did manage to take the lead early on, however. Mitchell Weiser’s shot from distance was only parried by Martin Fraisl and Ilia Gruev headed in the rebound from six yards out (9’).

Simon Terodde had a great chance to equalise for Schalke after 22 minutes. Ko Itakura drove through the midfield and played a ball through to the striker at the perfect moment. S04’s top goalscorer then placed his shot just over the bar. At the other end, Werder doubled their lead with another goal from a short corner. This time, Niclas Füllkrug headed in from close range (26’).

Schalke were celebrating a goal in the 34th minute, albeit only momentarily. Dominick Drexler had deflected Rodrigo Zalazar’s shot into the back of the net, however he was clearly offside. The final chance of the first half belonged to SVW. Marvin Ducksch tried to chip one over Fraisl, but his effort went past the post (42’).

Ducksch brace seals it for Werder

The woodwork was there to help out Schalke at the start of the second half. Marvin Ducksch hit his free-kick round the wall, striking the outside of the post (48’). The Werder striker went one better soon later, though – scoring twice inside a few minutes. Firstly, Füllkrug found him in the middle and he fired home past Fraisl to make it 3-0 (51’). Ducksch then found the back of the net again less than two minutes later, as his curling effort was deflected home by Ko Itakura (53’).

Despite now being four goals behind, Schalke didn’t give up. Fired on by the home fans, Mike Büskens’ team still looked for goals. Marcin Kaminski had a good chance from a Zalazar free-kick, heading narrowly wide (68’). Ilia Gruev came close to getting his second for Bremen. He curled an effort past the left post (69’).

Substitute Darko Churlinov had the next opportunity for S04. He fired a powerful shot at Jiri Pavlenka, who was able to keep it out (80’). Ko Itakura was also unlucky in front of goal. He headed past the post from a Churlinov free-kick with six minutes to play. Schalke did manage to get a consolation goal late on, with Churlinov’s shot turned home by Simon Terodde (88’).

Away in Sandhausen

Schalke will kick off matchday 32 with an away game at SV Sandhausen on Friday (29/4). Kick off at the BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald is at 18:30 CEST. The Royal Blues won the reverse fixture 5-2 earlier this season.