Stunning Ljubičić strike earns S04 a point in Fürth

Müller starts in goal again – Tchibara replaces Sylla on the bench

Head coach Miron Muslic went with the same starting XI that beat 1. FC Magdeburg 5-3 last time out, meaning Kevin Müller once again was in goal. Loris Karius did make the journey down to Fürth but wasn’t ready in time to make his return from injury. Moussa Sylla was unavailable due to an Adductor problem and his place on the bench was taken by Zaid Tchibara.

S04 apply pressure, but Fürth strike with their first chance

The Royal Blues were on the front foot from the start, pressing high and causing the hosts plenty of problems. After a wayward effort from Soufiane El-Faouzi, Fürth took a short goal kick and goalkeeper Silas Prüfrock tried to clear the ball, only for Edin Džeko to stick his leg in the way. His block then ricocheted just wide of the right post (5’). A few minutes later, Schalke pounced again after another Prüfrock error. Dejan Ljubičić fed Džeko, whose low drive from 15 yards towards the far corner was pushed away by Prüfrock (9’).

At the other end, Fürth went ahead with their first chance of the game. Branimir Hrgota played it into the middle from the right and Dennis Srbeny took it on his left foot, nudged it past Nikola Katic and then poked a right-footed finish from five yards into the back of the net (12’).

Kuruçay with S04’s best chance of a leveller

After falling behind, Schalke struggled to turn their possession into clear-cut chances for a spell, but they came close twice in quick succession just after the half-hour mark. Hasan Kuruçay narrowly missed a fizzing free-kick delivery from Adil Aouchiche at the back post (32’), and Kenan Karaman then couldn’t get a clean header on Dejan Ljubičić’s cross – though he looked to be in an offside position anyway (36’).

Schalke continued to see more of the ball but couldn’t find a way through before the break. Adil Aouchiche volleyed first time from 10 yards after being teed up by Edin Džeko – with the striker appearing to be just offside – but the effort was straight at Prüfrock (43’). It therefore remained 1-0 to Fürth at half time.

No penalty for S04

The second half got underway with no changes on either side, and once again most of the play headed towards the Fürth goal. The first big talking point after the restart came in the 54th minute: Dejan Ljubičić went down under a challenge from Reno Münz in the box, but referee Dr. Robert Kampka waved play on. Three minutes later, Ljubičić couldn’t quite get on the end of Adil Aouchiche’s dangerous whipped ball into the area.

With 63 minutes played, Ron Schallenberg flicked on Moussa Ndiaye’s corner, but Nikola Katic couldn’t get a decisive touch with his header. Moments later, the hosts thought they had made it 2-0 from a goalmouth scramble. Nikola Katic went down in a duel with Dennis Srbeny, and the ball eventually dribbled over the line off Edin Džeko’s boot, but Srbeny was offside in the build-up, so Günter Perl on VAR duty ruled it out (67’).

Ljubičić thunders S04’s equaliser home

With 15 minutes left, Schalke got the equaliser their pressure deserved – and in spectacular fashion. Edin Džeko brought a high ball under control and his pass into the middle was blocked, but it fell perfectly for Dejan Ljubičić, who unleashed a thunderbolt from around 25 yards out that flew in under the crossbar at 114 km/h to make it 1-1 (75’).

Schalke wanted more than an equaliser too. In the 80th minute, Edin Džeko blazed over with a left-footed effort. At the other end, Hasan Kuruçay timed his slide tackle perfectly to nick the ball off Noel Futkeu, who otherwise would have been clean through on goal (82’). Then, in the 87th minute, the ball ricocheted around the box and dropped to substitute Finn Porath, but Silas Prüfrock got down sharply to save his low shot.

Schalke threw everything forward during the seven minutes of stoppage time, while Fürth looked to hit the visitors on the break. Right at the end, Dejan Ljubičić dragged his shot wide from just inside the box, though Kenan Karaman was offside in the build-up anyway (90’+6).

Arminia Bielefeld up next

S04’s matchday 25 fixture is also an evening game. On Friday (6/3), the Royal Blues host Arminia Bielefeld at the VELTINS-Arena at 18:30 CET.