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S04 defeated by penalty away in Kaiserslautern
FC Schalke 04 were beaten 1-0 away by 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday night (9/8). Marlon Ritter’s penalty in the second half decided the matchday 2 clash.
Kurucay makes his debut – Karaman and Bachmann back in the squad
Summer signing Hasan Kurucay replaced the suspended Nikola Katić in the heart of the defence to make his S04 debut. After several weeks on the sidelines, Kenan Karaman and Janik Bachmann were named on the bench as they returned to the squad. Ilyes Hamache was unavailable due to illness.
Kurucay and Sylla with Schalke’s first chances
The game didn’t take long to get going as FCK had the first chance after just a minute played. Daniel Hanslik ran onto a long ball over the Schalke defence and fired a shot across goal, which Loris Karius got down low to parry wide for a corner. S04’s first attacks came soon after, both from long throws by Christopher Antwi-Adjei. The second ball fell to Hasan Kurucay in the fifth minute, but his effort went over, while Moussa Sylla couldn’t get enough on his shot two minutes later.
Most of the early action took place in the FCK half before the balance of play gradually shifted slightly in favour of the hosts. The Royal Blues remained solid and well-organised at the back, allowing no real chances in the first 45 minutes, but were rarely able to turn turnovers into dangerous counter-attacks.
S04 with more chances in the first half
Overall though, the Royal Blues had more opportunities in the first half. Peter Remmert narrowly missed an Adrian Gantenbein delivery with a header after half an hour, with Simon Asta clearing for a corner. The resulting set piece caught Hasan Kurucay by surprise in the middle, and he couldn’t make a connection (31’).
Moments later, goalkeeper Julian Krahl pushed a long-range free-kick from Christopher Antwi-Adjei to safety (32’), and the attacker cleared the bar from a similar distance just before the break (45’). The only other notable moment of the first period came after 33 minutes: Antwi-Adjei played a ball through to Moussa Sylla after a misplaced pass by Maxwell Gyamfi, but the defender got back to block the striker’s shot.
Ritter scores from the spot for Kaiserslautern
The hosts started brightly after the break and took the lead 10 minutes into the second half. Ron Schallenberg caught Daniel Hanslik in the box with a tackle following a corner and referee Martin Petersen eventually pointed to the spot after VAR informed him of the foul. Marlon Ritter slotted the spot-kick home to give the Red Devils the lead.
Kaiserslautern were then able to create more chances than S04, including one in the 62nd minute. Ritter was allowed to dribble with the ball down the left side of the box and cross into the middle. Mahir Emreli stole it off Jisoo Kim, who was actually in a better position, and the Knappen were able to get men back to block his shot for a corner.
S04 struggle to create chances late on
While the last 20 minutes saw the ball spend a lot of time in FCK’s half, Miron Muslic’s team failed to pose a threat to Julian Krahl’s goal. Referee Petersen issued substitute Leon Robinson a straight red card in the 86th minute for a tackle on Janik Bachmann, but soon changed his decision to a yellow card after watching the challenge back.
S04, who introduced captain Kenan Karaman in the second half, failed to create any opportunity to equalise in the 12 minutes of injury time. Lautern’s Maxwell Gyamfi did handle the ball in the box in the 95th minute, however Karaman was offside in the build-up. Faride Alidou had a golden chance to make it 2-0 with seconds left to play, but he cleared the bar with his shot and it remained 1-0 for the home side.
DFB-Pokal tie in Leipzig up next
FC Schalke 04 start their DFB-Pokal campaign next weekend with a trip to 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in the first round. Kick off against the fourth-division side will be at 15:30 CEST on Sunday (17/8).
