S04 defeat Hertha BSC 2-1 to kick off the new season

Three new signings in the starting XI

As he did throughout the majority of pre-season, head coach Miron Muslic went with a 3-4-2-1 formation. Three new signings – Timo Becker, Nikola Katic and Soufiane El-Faouzi – were all named in the starting XI. Hasan Kurucay, who joined the club on Tuesday, didn’t make the squad. Vitalie Becker made his competitive debut for Schalke’s first team, while Peter Remmert, who made two cameo appearances off the bench last season, was handed his first start. Youngster Mertcan Ayhan also came on for his competitive debut at the end of the game.

Sylla scores first goal of the new season

As the teams emerged into a sold-out VELTINS-Arena, the Schalke players were greeted by an impressive tifo and a wall of noise from the stands. When referee Richard Hempel blew the whistle moments later, S04 got off to an impressive and determined start in front of the electric crowd.

Schalke, who got stuck into every tackle, looked to get forward early on and put Hertha’s defence under pressure with some effective pressing. After Moussa Sylla (4’), Ron Schallenberg (7’) and Christopher Antwi-Adjei (8’) all had early shots, the French striker was the one to break the deadlock with just over a quarter of an hour played. Sylla scored the first goal of the 2025/26 season after 16 minutes to give Schalke the lead with a composed finish into the far corner following some excellent work by strike partner Peter Remmert. The youngster had gone to ground after a tackle by Marton Dardai, but kept his wits about him and managed to pass to Sylla while still on the floor.

Schalke’s number 9 had almost scored before his strike in the 16th minute. His header from a corner beat Tjark Ernst but was headed over the bar by Dawid Kownacki on the line. Ernst prevented Sylla from getting his second after 19 minutes, pushing his attempt wide from within the box. Loris Karius was called into action for the first time a minute later, claiming Deyovaisio Zeefuik’s header from a Diego Demme corner at the second attempt.

The VELTINS-Arena erupted again in the 23rd minute, this time to celebrate Nikola Katic’s debut goal. The centre-back got the better of Toni Leistner in the air to head in a corner from Christopher Antwi-Adjei and make it 2-0 to the Royal Blues. Miron Muslic’s team didn’t sit back after taking a two-goal lead and continue to play with passion and commitment, putting the Berliners under constant pressure. Peter Remmert could well have made it 3-0 in the 40th minute, however he couldn’t keep his shot down after Tjark Ernst had only parried Adrian Gantenbein’s low drive into the box.

Late goal gives Hertha hope

Schalke kept playing at a high intensity after the break and continued to work hard to win back possession. That being said, the away team had the first opportunity of the second half: Julian Eitschberger’s cross ended up on the roof of the net (49’). Seven minutes later, Loris Karius showed his quality, coming off his line to deny Fabian Reese with his legs as the former Royal Blue raced clean through on goal. A potential goal wouldn’t have stood anyway as Reese was offside.

Shortly afterwards, Christopher Antwi-Adjei’s free-kick to the back post was headed back across goal by Timo Becker. Peter Remmert then got a header away himself but couldn’t divert it on target (60’). Moussa Sylla did get his shot on target in the 67th minute, though it didn’t cause Tjark Ernst any problems.

Hertha unsurprisingly committed more bodies forward as time started to run out for them, but Schalke’s defence remained solid. Timo Becker and his teammates pushed one another on and didn’t allow the Berliners much space in the final third. However, Stefan Leitl’s team did eventually manage to find a way back into the game with two minutes left to play. Marten Winkler’s cross was back-heeled home by substitute Sebastian Grønning at the near post. With the visitors now believing they could steal a point, the final few minutes were extremely nervy at the VELTINS-Arena, particularly when Nikola Katic was shown a second yellow card for handball in the dying moments. Fabian Reese took the resulting free-kick but blazed it over the bar from 30 yards out.

The referee then blew the final whistle to once again allow the VELTINS-Arena to erupt to secure a win for Miron Muslic in his first competitive game in charge. The new boss now certainly has plenty of positives to build on in the coming weeks.

Away against the Red Devils

Schalke’s first away game of the new season is next Saturday (9/8) at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Kick off at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion will be at 20:30 CEST.