S04 beaten at home by Kaiserslautern

Kalas replaces Seguin

The Royal Blues made one change from the 2-2 draw in Hamburg last weekend. Tomas Kalas replaced Paul Seguin in the starting XI – Schalke’s number 7 wasn’t able to complete every training session this week and therefore dropped to the bench. Bryan Lasme was also among the substitutes as he returned to the squad for the first time since mid-October.

Hanslik assists Ache

A lot of Kaiserslautern’s play early on came down the right wing, though Schalke were able to deal with it. S04’s first dangerous attack was in the seventh minute: a move involving Amin Younes, Kenan Karaman and Janik Bachmann eventually saw Derry John Murkin cross for Moussa Sylla, however the ball didn’t reach him. Two minutes later, an excellent long pass by Younes allowed Sylla to sprint in behind the away defence. He crossed for Bachmann, but the midfielder couldn’t divert his attempt on goal.

Shortly afterwards, FCK opened the scoring. Filip Kaloc found space down the left flank and crossed for Ragnar Ache, who made no mistake from a few yards out (12’). Schalke looked to find a quick response and had two shots via Kenan Karaman (14’) and Taylan Bulut (24’), though neither caused FCK goalkeeper Julian Krahl any issues.

Close call before the break

The Red Devils further threatened through Florian Kleinhansl, whose shot flew just past the post (26’), and captain Daniel Hanslik, who put a header wide (27’).

Luca Sirch’s corner in the 40th minute allowed Ragnar Ache to get a shot on goal, which Justin Heekeren was comfortable with. The goalscorer was then forced off injured two minutes later and subsequently replaced by Kenny Prince Redondo.

Schalke came close to an equaliser in injury time of the first half. Taylan Bulut fired a cross in from the right wing and Krahl could only parry it directly into Janik Bachmann’s knee. The ball unfortunately didn’t go in and was cleared by defender Jan Elvedi.

Unlucky deflection by Kalas – Yokota gets FCK’s third

The visitors enjoyed the better start to the second half. After Filip Kaloc fired wide from 20 yards out (51’), Daniel Hanslik’s shot deflected off Tomas Kalas and left Heekeren with no chance (52’). The Knappen were unable to find a response, with Amin Younes curling one wide (55’) and then Paul Seguin almost catching Krahl out with an audacious free-kick from way out (59’).

Instead of a Schalke goal, Kaiserslautern got another one with an hour played. Some nice interplay between Daisuke Yokota and Daniel Hanslik resulted in the Japanese winger getting free in the box, before slotting it past Heekeren.

Penalty taken back by referee

Almamy Touré did well to keep up with Bryan Lasme on a counter-attack and then block his shot in the 70th minute. The FCK defender was in the spotlight again right away, handling Anton Donkor’s effort in the box. Referee Dr. Robin Braun immediately pointed to the spot, but after VAR advised him to watch back the build-up, he took back his decision due to Kenan Karaman being in an offside position and supposedly interfering with play (74’). Schalke could have had a penalty again two minutes afterwards following contact from Boris Tomiak on Lasme – Braun felt it wasn’t enough to constitute a foul.

Schalke tried their best to get a goal back in the closing stages, but it simply wasn’t to be. After Marlon Ritter’s wasted chance for the Red Devils (83’), Lino Tempelmann tried his luck from range (90’). He then had an even better opportunity in the second minute of injury time, rounding goalkeeper Krahl, only to lose control of the ball and watch it go out of play. The final notable moment saw Heekeren deny Kenny Prince Redondo (90+6’), with the score therefore remaining 3-0 to Kaiserslautern.

Another Friday night game

The Royal Blues are away at SC Paderborn 07 on matchday 15. Kick off on Friday (6/12) is at 18:30 CET.