Schalke beaten 5-2 at home by 1. FC Magdeburg

FC Schalke 04 suffered a 5-2 defeat on Saturday night (1/2) at home against 1. FC Magdeburg. Adrian Gantenbein and Janik Bachmann got the goals for the Royal Blues, who never recovered from going 4-0 down.

Ba included, trio return from injury

Head coach Kees van Wonderen went with the same starting XI that beat 1. FC Nürnberg 3-1 at home a week ago. New signing Pape Meïssa Ba, who joined from Grenoble Foot on Wednesday, was named on the bench. He was joined by Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Janik Bachmann and Derry John Murkin, who all returned from injury. Antwi-Adjei and Murkin had picked up slight knocks during the goalless draw in Braunschweig a fortnight ago, while Bachmann underwent knee surgery just before Christmas.

Kaars scores twice in the first half

Magdeburg, the league’s best team away from home, began with confidence and won three corners and a free-kick in the first seven minutes. Schalke were able to recover from FCM’s fast start and recorded their first shot in the 11th minute. A Magdeburg defender headed Tobias Mohr’s cross to Kenan Karaman, who then knocked the ball past an opponent and shot from a tight angle. Magdeburg goalkeeper Dominik Reimann was able to block the shot with his body. Moments later, Mehmet Can Aydin’s dipping effort from 20 yards out flew wide.

The game was played at a high intensity as both teams looked to create scoring opportunities. FCM striker Martijn Kaars couldn’t keep his header down from close range (14’), before Taylan Bulut’s surging run forward had the home fans on their feet. His eventual pass to Moussa Sylla was cleared by a defender (20’). Paul Seguin won back possession and played it to Tobias Mohr, whose shot went just wide from the edge of the box.

The visitors constantly reminded the Knappen that they are always a threat in the final third: Marcin Kaminski was able to prevent a through ball from reaching Baris Atik (23’), before Martijn Kaars’ shot was spilled by Justin Heekeren to Livan Burcu, who cleared the bar with his follow-up attempt (27’). Two minutes later, Burcu received the ball from a throw-in and then had the time and space in midfield to slip a ball in behind the Schalke defence for Kaars to run on to. The Dutch striker then dinked it past Heekeren to give the visitors the lead (29’).

Schalke looked to find a way back into the game, often attacking Magdeburg out wide. Kenan Karaman curled one just past the far post for the Royal Blues (34’), who then saw Paul Seguin shown a yellow card (36’), meaning he will be suspended for next week’s away game against 1. FC Köln.

The first half ended in terrible fashion for van Wonderen’s side. The away team took a quick free-kick in injury time and that again allowed Martijn Kaars to race in behind. FCM’s number 9 slotted the ball past Heekeren to get his and Magdeburg’s second before the break (45’+2).

Five goals in the second half

Head coach Kees van Wonderen reacted to the two-goal deficit by bringing Adrian Gantenbein on for the second half. The Swiss full-back replaced Paul Seguin. The Dutchman’s side managed to get their first shot away in the first minute after the break, though Moussa Sylla’s attempt following Mehmet Can Aydin’s pass wasn’t close to hitting the target (46’). Five minutes afterwards, Max Grüger’s header from a corner was too central and easily saved by Dominik Reimann.

Magdeburg and Martijn Kaars in particular were then able to pick up where they left off in the first half. The striker slid in to get his hat-trick from Alexander Nollenberger’s low ball across the six-yard box (55’). After S04 came ever so close to pulling one back when Adrian Gantenbein’s header was saved by Dominik Reimann and Moussa Sylla’s shot was blocked on the line, Philipp Hercher converted Livan Burcu’s cross to make it 4-0 for FCM (65’).

Van Wonderen introduced new signing Pape Meïssa Ba and Ilyes Hamache in the 64th minute, taking off Tobias Mohr and Max Grüger. Hamache in particular was bright after coming on and he assisted Adrian Gantenbein to get one back for the Royal Blues (69’). However, Martijn Kaars’ fourth of the evening quickly restored Magdeburg’s four-goal advantage and quashed any hopes of a spectacular Schalke comeback (74’).

Schalke’s final two substitutions saw Janik Bachmann (79’ – for Kenan Karaman) and Tomas Kalas (87’ – Mehmet Can Aydin) come on. Bachmann headed in Taylan Bulut’s cross in the third minute of injury time, meaning it ended 5-2 to the visitors.

The league leaders up next

FC Schalke 04’s next game is away to 1. FC Köln on Sunday (9/2) at 13:30 CET. The Billy Goats are currently top of the league.

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