S04 beaten 2-0 in Düsseldorf

Five changes to the side

Jakob Fimpel, who took over Kees van Wonderen’s role as head coach for the final two games of the season after the Dutchman’s departure, made five changes to the team that lost 2-0 against SC Paderborn 07 last time out.

Kenan Karaman (red card) and Derry John Murkin (five yellows) both returned from suspension, taking the places of Emil Højlund and Anton Donkor, who both dropped to the bench.

Janik Bachmann and Tomas Kalas, who both started against Paderborn, missed out after picking up a knock in training this week. Paul Seguin was only fit enough to start on the bench due to a calf problem. This trio were replaced in the team by Max Grüger, Tobias Mohr and Christopher Antwi-Adjei. Mertcan Ayhan, captain of the U19s, was named in a first-team squad for the first time.

VAR rules out Düsseldorf’s opener

Both teams got stuck in early on in a game that they each clearly wanted to win. Aside from two half-chances for Düsseldorf early on, not a lot happened in the two boxes in the first 10 minutes. The home side then looked to have taken the lead with 13 minutes played when Myron van Brederode powered a shot past Justin Heekeren. However, VAR intervened and informed referee Michael Bacher that Nicolas Gavory was offside in the build-up and the goal didn’t stand.

Schalke’s first decent chance came after 24 minutes. Fortuna defender Tim Oberdorf slid in to clear the ball away from Tobias Mohr but could only play it into the path of Moussa Sylla. S04’s striker tried his luck with his left foot, unfortunately seeing his shot roll just inches past the far post.

The next opportunity, at the other end of the pitch this time, was a similar one: Ron Schallenberg’s attempted clearance teed it up for Nicolas Gavory, however his shot was straight down the throat of Justin Heekeren (28’).
The remainder of the first half was uneventful until the five minutes of stoppage time. Firstly, Marcin Kaminski cleared a Matthias Zimmermann shot off the line after he’d beaten

Justin Heekeren following van Brederode’s cross to the far post (45’+2). Three minutes later, Nicolas Gavory got in behind from a long ball and tested Heekeren out from a tight angle, which the S04 goalkeeper was ultimately equal to.

Kownacki and van Brederode both on the scoresheet

Moussa Sylla had the first shot of the second half, taking aim from around 20 yards out without causing goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier any real problems (49’). Kastenmeier’s opposite number Justin Heekeren was beaten for the first time shortly afterwards: Dawid Kownacki headed in a Shinta Appelkamp corner from close range to open the scoring (57’).

Schalke looked to find a way back into the game after conceding and that saw coach Fimpel bring on Pape Meïssa Ba and Mehmet Can Aydin. Ba got himself in a decent position in the Fortuna box in the 64th minute, only for Tim Oberdorf to deny him a chance.

An excellent slide tackle from Ron Schallenberg stole the ball off substitute Danny Schmidt in the box in the 71st minute, before Isak Johannesson had Düsseldorf’s next chance less than 60 seconds later. His effort from a tight angle was easily saved by Justin Heekeren.

The hosts doubled their lead in the 78th minute. A move involving Jamil Siebert and Emmanuel Iyoha then saw Danny Schmidt in space out wide. He crossed for Myron van Brederode and the Dutchman slotted home from a few yards out on his left foot. Fortuna almost made it 3-0 late on too: Schmidt took advantage of a misplaced pass to race clean through on goal but could only shoot wide from the edge of the box (85’). Schalke had the final chance of the afternoon, with Emil Højlund getting on the end of fellow substitute Anton Donkor’s cross, narrowly missing the target at the near post.

Elversberg at home

FC Schalke 04’s final game of the 2024/25 season comes at home against SV Elversberg. Kick off at the VELTINS-Arena will be on Sunday (18/5) at 15:30 CEST, with all matchday 34 games in the second division taking place at the same time.