S04 deservedly beat KSC 1-0

Ayhan replaces Katic in the starting XI

Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Adrian Gantenbein and Bryan Lasme were all fit again and returned to the squad after their respective injuries, all taking their place on the bench.

There was only one change to the starting XI: Mertcan Ayhan came in for Nikola Katic. Scans after the Bosnian returned from international duty confirmed he has a knee injury, which will leave him on the sidelines for several weeks and most likely end his season.

Edin Džeko, who was absent due to a red-card suspension in Darmstadt last time out, has also returned to Gelsenkirchen with an injury. The striker suffered damage to his shoulder in the penalty-shootout win over Italy and is now also unavailable. How quickly he recovers from his injury will determine when he can return to action this season.

Karaman goal ruled out for offside

The visitors were not overawed in front of 61,838 fans at the VELTINS-Arena and threatened for the first time after just two minutes. Louey Ben Farhat raced through on goal after a long ball from Stephan Ambrosius, but Timo Becker did enough to put him off inside the box. Schalke then took control of the game, while Karlsruhe remained compact and looked to give the hosts no space to work with.

Soufiane El-Faouzi had Schalke’s first effort, dragging his shot wide after Moussa Sylla’s lay-off (8’). Shortly afterwards, Schalke created their first real chance in front of the KSC goal. Adil Aouchiche’s slightly deflected cross almost forced Marcel Franke into an own goal at his near post.

The ball was in the net in the 18th minute, but Kenan Karaman was offside when he met Adil Aouchiche’s free-kick delivery on the volley. A few minutes later, the Schalke captain picked up his fifth yellow card of the season for a foul on Rafael Pinto Pedrosa and will now miss the next match in Elversberg.

After 26 minutes, Schalke threatened again. Dejan Ljubičić and Soufiane El-Faouzi were briefly caught in two minds in the middle when Adil Aouchiche drilled a low ball into the box, before the latter got his shot away, only for it to be blocked. His follow-up overhead kick did not trouble KSC goalkeeper Hans-Christian Bernat, while a header from the Austrian after another Aouchiche cross also went well wide.

KSC’s best chance of the first half fell to Dženis Burnić in the 39th minute, but his effort from the right side of the box hit the side netting. Schalke went straight up the other end and threatened again, with Kenan Karaman’s shot blocked by Marcel Franke. The final chance before the break fell to Fabian Schleusener, who was denied by Loris Karius after a cross from Rafael Pinto Pedrosa (45’).

Karaman secures all three points

Schalke kept up the pressure after the restart and quickly pinned Karlsruhe back in their own half. Just 76 seconds into the second period, Dejan Ljubičić got away the first shot, though his effort from around 30 yards cleared the crossbar. The Austrian had another good opportunity five minutes later. Moussa Sylla cleverly let Kenan Karaman’s square ball run through to him, only for David Herold to step in at the last moment.

The Royal Blues continued to get forward after that as well, however for a long spell they were unable to work themselves into truly dangerous shooting positions. At times an opposition defender got in the way, at others the final ball wasn’t accurate enough.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 72nd minute. The ball went from Ron Schallenberg to Soufiane El-Faouzi and then out to Moussa Ndiaye on the left. The left-back clipped a cross towards the near post, where Schalke captain Kenan Karaman was waiting to guide a header into the far corner. Soon after, the goalscorer left the pitch to a huge ovation from the home crowd. Janik Bachmann came on in his place and had an effort of his own moments later, though his shot from 20 yards drifted wide of the left post.

In the closing stages, Adrian Gantenbein and Bryan Lasme made their comebacks. Both came on in the 84th minute for Adil Aouchiche and Moussa Sylla and played their part in seeing Schalke over the line. Karlsruhe, who had offered very little going forward for much of the second half, pushed forward repeatedly late on, yet were ultimately unable to find a way past the best defence in the second division. Schalke still had two good chances of their own in the five minutes of stoppage time, but Bryan Lasme and Christian Gomis were both denied by Hans-Christian Bernat.

Away in Elversberg

Miron Muslic’s team are next in action on Sunday (12/4), when they play another side in the top six in the form of SV Elversberg. Kick off at the URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde will be at 13:30 CEST. S04 won the reverse fixture 1-0.