S04 begin second half of the season with a 2-0 defeat to HSV

Seguin returns from illness

Karel Geraerts made one change to the team that won 3-1 against KAS Eupen in the final friendly of the winter break last weekend. Paul Seguin, who missed that game due to a cold, returned to the team, taking Ron Schallenberg’s place in central midfield as part of a 4-4-2 formation.

The VELTINS-Arena paid its respects to Franz Beckenbauer and Kay Bernstein before the game. The ‘Kaiser’ and Hertha BSC’s president both passed away recently and have left a huge hole in the world of football.

HSV take their chances

Schalke began brightly at a freezing VELTINS-Arena. Karel Geraerts’ side looked to get the ball forward early on and had a few shots in the opening stages. A Thomas Ouwejan free-kick was cleared by defender Stephan Ambrosius with Marcin Kaminski lurking, with Tobias Mohr then taking aim from distance, forcing Daniel Heuer Fernandes into a decent save (4’).

The visitors took a while to get going, initially sitting back and waiting for mistakes by the Schalke players. In an even period of the first half, the Rothosen took the lead via Immanuel Pherai. The Dutchman headed in a cross from Van Der Brempt in the six-yard box (22’), somewhat against the run of the play.

Simon Terodde had Schalke’s first chance to equalise six minutes later, heading Tobias Mohr’s cross on target, though it was too central to cause Heuer Fernandes any issues. The HSV goalkeeper was left without a chance in the 33rd minute from Thomas Ouwejan’s long-range free-kick, but unfortunately for the Royal Blues, the left-back’s attempt only hit the bar.

The second goal of the evening came with 35 minutes played. Jean-Luc Dompé put the ball into the box from the left wing and found Laszlo Benes, who took it first time and fired the ball past Fährmann for 2-0. Schalke’s best opportunity in the remainder of the first half was a Kenan Karaman header, which didn’t have enough on it and trickled wide (37’).

Ouwejan hits the post

Schalke began the second half full of energy and created a decent opening less than two minutes after the restart. A nice dinked through ball by Paul Seguin found Simon Terodde, but the captain couldn’t keep his effort down.

S04 continued to push in search of a way back into the game and HSV didn’t threaten early on in the second period. However, Tim Walter’s team very nearly grabbed a third goal in the 54th minute. Bakery Jatta passed to Benes in the box and his shot beat Fährmann, only to see Tomas Kalas brilliantly head the ball off the line.

Substitute Ron Schallenberg produced a sweet half-volley with just over an hour played, one that a good portion of the home fans would have thought was going in. In reality though, his strike went just past the post.

Thomas Ouwejan came even closer to scoring for the Royal Blues, crashing a shot on his left foot off the outside of the post from the edge of the box (74’). 60 seconds later, Kenan Karaman got past Ignace Van Der Brempt into a good position, but couldn’t get a shot on goal. The final notable attack for S04 saw Bryan Lasme’s denied by the post, the third time Schalke hit the woodwork on a frustrating evening in Gelsenkirchen.

Reunion with Dimitrios Grammozis

The Royal Blues are away at 1. FC Kaiserslautern on matchday 19. The game will be played on Friday (26/1) at 18:30 CET at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion. FCK are coached by former Schalke boss Dimitrios Grammozis. The Knappen won the reverse fixture 3-0 earlier this season.