Schalke fall to a 2-0 defeat against Bayern

Rudy starts against his old club

Head coach Domenico Tedesco made two changes to his team after the 1-1 draw in the Champions League with FC Porto. Sebastian Rudy, who only signed from Bayern at the end of August, came in for Nabil Bentaleb and Franco Di Santo replaced Suat Serdar.

James heads home the opener for Bayern

Bayern took control of the game in the initial stages, with their first chance coming through Thomas Müller after six minutes. Two minutes later they then did take the lead. James Rodriguez headed home a Joshua Kimmich corner from close range.

The Royal Blues didn’t allow themselves to be shocked and carved out some chances for themselves. After 12 minutes there were claims for a Schalke penalty after Niklas Süle climbed on Breel Embolo, but referee Daniel Siebert wasn’t convinced and thus didn’t blow his whistle. Daniel Caligiuri, Franco Di Santo and Naldo all had half-chances in the next two minutes, but couldn’t break down the Bayern defence.

Bayern meanwhile were also still dangerous, and Schalke relied on Ralf Fährmann to expertly deny James again after 25 minutes. The bar was then rattling after a David Alaba free kick. Bayern had full control of possession for the remainder of the first half, although failed to make any further inroads into the Schalke defence.

Lewandowski converts penalty

The visitors had the first big chance in the second period, after some excellent build-up play from Franck Ribéry and Lewandowski. James had an open goal at his mercy, but narrowly missed the target for 2-0. Breel Embolo then saw his header from a Rudy free kick fly just past the post, before a Mark Uth shot was easily held by Neuer after 58 minutes.

Bayern striker Lewandowski then doubled their lead on 64 minutes, calmly slotting home a penalty. Alessandro Schöpf had given it away after clumsily fouling James. Fährmann had dived the right way but unfortunately wasn’t able to get a hand on the ball. Schalke didn’t give up and substitute Amine Harit saw a shot go just wide on 70 minutes. Fährmann made a spectacular save from another long-range Alaba free kick, with no further noteworthy chances coming in the last ten minutes. Thus it remained 2-0 for Bayern, who with the three points returned to the top of the Bundesliga summit. Schalke, on the other hand, are still waiting for their first points of the current Bundesliga season.

Away at Freiburg on Tuesday

Schalke don’t have to wait long for their game, with an away fixture at SC Freiburg on Tuesday, 25th September up next. The game at the Schwarzwald-Stadion will kick off at 20:30 (CEST).