Ten-man Schalke come out on top against Elversberg

Sanchez and Gomis start

There were two changes to the Schalke team that started in the 1-0 win over Karlsruher SC. Mertcan Ayhan and Kenan Karaman missed the game in Saarland through suspension and were replaced by Felipe Sanchez and Christian Gomis in the starting XI.

Vitalie Becker and Dylan Leonard were also named in Schalke’s matchday squad. They were last at head coach Miron Muslic’s disposal for the fixture against Hertha BSC just after the winter break.

Elversberg strike on the counter

The game got off to a nightmare start from a Schalke perspective. In the fourth minute of the match, the hosts broke away on a counterattack down the right-hand side. Tom Zimmerschied and Luka Schnellbacher played a one-two, before the ball fell to the latter after a tackle from Moussa Ndiaye. From around ten yards out, Schnellbacher curled the ball past Loris Karius and into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0. 60 seconds later, Lasse Günther whipped a cross across the face of goal from the left wing, where Zimmerschied was inches away from turning it into the back of the net.

After the early opener, the action increasingly took place in the home side’s half, as they banked on creating more breakaway opportunities to extend their one-goal lead. In the 18th minute, the Royal Blues had their first chance of the encounter. Adil Aouchiche’s corner was flicked on by Timo Becker at the front post, with Moussa Sylla arriving at the far post. The striker acrobatically reached for the ball with an outstretched leg, but his effort went wide of the post.

El-Faouzi with stunning equaliser

Ten minutes later, S04 levelled the scoreline at 1-1 – and how! A deflected cross from Adil Aouchiche found Timo Becker on the right-hand side of the box, who put the ball back into the danger zone. There, Soufiane El-Faouzi produced a sensational overhead kick and found the top left corner – with a slight deflection off Lukas Pinckert – from around five yards out.

Following the equaliser, SVE looked threatening once again. Just before the half-an-hour mark, Lukas Petkov headed just wide of the target (30’), with Felipe Sanchez putting in a block to deny Immanuel Pherai shortly after that (34’). At the other end of the pitch, Adil Aouchiche’s free kick whistled past the post (37’). Neither side created any other clear-cut chances at the end of the first half, and the scoreline remained 1-1 at the interval.

Moussa Ndiaye sent off incorrectly

The first chance of the second half fell to the hosts who once again hit S04 on the counter. Immanuel Pherai couldn’t produce the final ball to David Mokwa, though (49’). Two minutes later, SVE keeper Nicolas Kristof was called into action to neutralise the threat posed by Adil Aouchiche’s cross (51’).

Moments later, referee Michael Bacher gave Moussa Ndiaye, who had already been cautioned, his marching orders – a clearly incorrect decision. In fact, it was Lukas Petkov who connected with Ndiaye’s foot, not the other way around. Head coach Miron Muslic reacted to the sending off by bringing Vitalie Becker on for Christian Gomis.

Sylla scores, Royal Blues keep clean sheet with ten men

Despite having one fewer player on the pitch, Schalke ended up taking the lead! Adil Aouchiche found Dejan Ljubičić on the right wing with a long diagonal pass. The midfielder then fired a ball across the face of goal, and all Moussa Sylla had to do was tap it into the bottom left corner to put the Royal Blues in front (56’). Dejan Ljubičić almost made it 3-1 to S04 shortly after Sylla’s goal, too. After a corner was cleared away, the Schalke midfielder drove forward at speed and got a shot off that beat Nicolas Kristof but also flew just past the post.

The Royal Blues sat deep after taking the lead, with SVE dominating possession thanks to their numerical advantage. In the 71st minute, Immanuel Pherai tested Loris Karius with a low, driven shot from around 23 yards out, though Schalke’s number one was in the right place at the right time to make a good save. Elversberg continued to plug away, but the Knappen hardly gave them a sniff. A close-range header from David Mokwa went wide of the post in the 79th minute. In the final minute of normal time, Immanuel Pherai’s free kick found Maximilian Rohr five yards out. Loris Karius was equal to the defender’s header, however.

Elversberg were also unable to find and exploit any chinks in S04’s armour during the six minutes of added time. With the final kick of the game, Moussa Sylla almost extended Schalke’s lead. His shot ended up being cleared off the line. It didn’t matter to the Schalke fans, though, since referee Michael Bacher blew the final whistle directly after the chance, with the Royal Blues taking three crucial points back to Gelsenkirchen!

Local clash against Münster

On matchday 30 of the 2. Bundesliga season, S04 will also be in action on a Sunday. On 19th April, the Royal Blues will host Preußen Münster at the VELTINS-Arena. The clash against the Eagles will kick off at 13:30 CEST.