League leaders St. Pauli defeated 3-1 in Gelsenkirchen

Five changes to the starting XI

Karel Geraerts made five changes to the side that started last week’s game in Magdeburg. Brandon Soppy came in for his first start to replace Cedric Brunner, while Derry John Murkin, Yusuf Kabadayi, Simon Terodde and Bryan Lasme were all preferred to Marcin Kaminski, Timo Baumgartl, Blendi Idrizi and Darko Churlinov. The Royal Blues set up with a 4-4-2 formation.

Kabadayi scores just before half time

Schalke began strongly and looked to focus on pressing St. Pauli as quickly as they could. Despite a few successful turnovers in possession, the hosts couldn’t create any serious chances once winning the ball. Nonetheless, this commitment and fight was applauded early on by the home fans at the VELTINS-Arena.

The Royal Blues were much improved at the back from last weekend’s defeat in Magdeburg, even if the visitors could have gone ahead in the 10th minute. Oladapo Afolayan passed it to Connor Metcalfe on the right side of the box and he fired the ball towards the far corner, only to see Marius Müller pull off a fine save to tip the shot wide. This was the only real chance the league leaders had in the first half as they struggled to find their normal fluency in the final third.

Schalke put together a few decent moves in the first half, albeit without creating any great chances. One example came in the 26th minute when Thomas Ouwejan’s powerful drive towards goal from the edge of the box was deflected wide for a corner.

The Knappen drew first blood on the stroke of half time. Thomas Ouwejan crossed from the byline and Simon Terodde smartly let the ball run through his legs, allowing Yusuf Kabadayi to slide in and stab the ball over the line (44’). It was a deserved lead for Karel Geraerts’ men at the break.

Kabadayi scores again, Karaman seals the deal

Schalke continued to play with the same passion and desire in the second half, cutting off the visitors’ passing lanes and looking to get forward themselves. Both sides failed to create anything notable for the first part of the second period.

Marius Müller was called into action again with around an hour played. Connor Metcalfe’s attempt from a tight angle was uncomfortable for him and he improvised with his body to keep it out. At the other end, Derry John Murkin’s cross ended up at Bryan Lasme’s feet with his back to goal. The striker’s audacious back-heel went wide (60’).

The home fans were celebrating again in the 73rd minute, with Kabadayi again the man responsible. Simon Terodde was clean through on goal but saw his shot saved by Nikola Vasilj. The ball rebounded off defender Karol Mets and fell to Kabadayi, and the Germany youth international made no mistake! VAR did check the goal for a possible handball against Terodde, however it stood, to the delight of the majority of people in the ground.

FC St. Pauli upped the ante in the closing stages and got one back with one minute left of normal time. Elias Saad’s shot took an unlucky deflection and left Müller with no chance. The nerves throughout the VELTINS-Arena certainly increased once the fourth official held up his board, signalling seven (!) minutes of injury time. These concerns were quickly eased though as Kenan Karaman restored S04’s two-goal lead. Terodde flicked on a long ball to Keke Topp, he picked out the Turkish forward and he slotted it home for 3-1, the final score.

Another home game

FC Schalke 04’s next match is also at home. The visitors are SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday (9/3) at 13:00 CET.