S04 beaten 2-1 at home by Hertha BSC

Six changes, debut for Heekeren

Justin Heekeren made his professional debut against the Berliners, replacing Michael Langer in goal. There were five more changes to the starting XI from the Paderborn game. Cedric Brunner missed out due to injury, so Henning Matriciani played at right-back. Timo Baumgartl came in for Tomas Kalas in the heart of the defence, while Lino Tempelmann, Dominick Drexler and Kenan Karaman were preferred to Paul Seguin, Assan Ouédraogo and Bryan Lasme in midfield.

Hertha take the lead shortly before the break

S04 began the match energetically and produced the first good attacking moves in the opening stages. After less than 60 seconds, Dominick Drexler played the ball to Sebastian Polter from the right of the six-yard box, but the striker couldn’t quite get the ball under control. Only one minute later came the first shot on the Hertha goal. Derry John Murkin’s effort from the inside left channel was deflected into the side-netting.

After these chances, the club from the capital grew increasingly into the game and repeatedly tried to get forward. Justin Heekeren was however initially not tested, with the defence in front of him managing to halt the attacks. S04 themselves admittedly needed a bit of time to create good attacking situations again. In the 26th minute, the ball landed at the feet of Dominick Drexler in the penalty area via Sebastian Polter and Kenan Karaman. The midfielder slipped slightly as he went to shoot, leading to the ball ultimately flying wide of goal.

At the other end, it started to get more dangerous after the 34th minute. The Royal Blues played the ball carelessly in their own penalty area, and Deyovaisio Zeefuik profited. The Dutchman however failed to square the ball in front of Justin Heekeren. The goalkeeper was therefore able to clear with the help of Lino Tempelmann. Shortly afterwards, Fabian Reese tested the debutant between the Royal Blues’ posts with a well-placed shot from the inside-left position. The former Schalke forward’s 40th-minute attempt was saved by Justin Heekeren.

Just one minute later though, the keeper was beaten. Fabian Reese was again involved. His ball into the box from the right found Smail Prevljak with the aid of deflections, and he steered it over the line from close range, leading to Hertha BSC going in 1-0 up at the break.

Ex-Schalker Reese and Kabadayi both on the scoresheet

The visitors had the first notable chance of the second half. Haris Tabakovic couldn’t get on the end of Fabian Reese’s ball across the box after a misplaced Schalke pass (47’). Shortly afterwards though, the Berliners had their second of the afternoon. Marton Dardai played it to Reese on the left and he cut inside, beat Henning Matriciani and then squeezed a powerful shot underneath Heekeren at the near post (51’).

Bryan Lasme, fresh off the bench, came close to pulling one back 11 minutes later for S04. He was played in behind the Hertha defence by Sebastian Polter and sprinted towards goal, only to see Hertha goalkeeper Tjark Ernst save well with his legs. Things could have gone from bad to worse for Schalke were it for not for the woodwork. Substitute Derry Scherhant headed Reese’s ball in against the post, and then Timo Baumgartl did well to block Florian Niederlechner’s follow-up attempt (73’). A minute later, Ernst impressed with a fine save from Derry John Murkin’s strike destined for the top corner.

The woodwork then saved Hertha in the 78th minute as Simon Terodde crashed a shot on his left foot against the bar. This increased pressure by the Knappen eventually paid off after 80 minutes. Kenan Karaman slipped in substitute Yusuf Kabadayi and he slotted home past Ernst for 2-1. He had S04’s next chance too, though he couldn’t get enough on his header to trouble the Hertha shot-stopper (82’).

Another former Schalke player in Jonjoe Kenny almost got himself a goal too with five minutes to play, striking the post with a sweetly-timed volley from way out. Moments later, Kenny was involved again. The English full-back was fouled by Karaman, and that led to the Turkish forward being shown his second yellow card of the day. Even with the numerical disadvantage, S04 pushed for an equaliser and did come close in the first minute of injury time. Assan Ouédraogo, who had just come on for Tempelmann, drove through the midfield and aimed for the bottom corner, but Ernst was on hand again to secure all three points for the ‘Old Lady’.

International break then Karlsruhe away

There are no league fixtures next weekend due to the second international break of the season. FC Schalke 04’s next competitive game is away to Karlsruher SC on Sunday, 22nd October. Kick off at the BBBank Wildpark will be at 13:30 CEST.