Derby delight for Schalke as they come back from 4-0 down to draw in Dortmund

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring after 12 minutes, a Benjamin Stambouli own goal doubling the hosts’ lead after 18 minutes followed by Mario Götze and Raphael Guerreiro netting in the 20th and 25th minute respectively, it seemed it was going to be a nightmare afternoon for Schalke in Dortmund. However, the second half saw Guido Burgstaller, Amine Harit, Daniel Caligiuri and Naldo score in the second half to get the Royal Blues a point for their efforts.

One change to the squad, no changes to the starting XI

Head coach Domenico Tedesco made only one change to the squad which faced Hamburger SV. Leon Goretzka, who missed the last game through injury, returned to the squad in place of Fabian Reese but Leon was on the bench to begin with as the starting XI remained unchanged.

BVB score four in 25 minutes

The derby was a feisty one from the off. Both teams attacked one another with purpose and pace as they knew the significance of the clash. It wasn’t long after Yevhen Konoplyanka had the first chance in the first minute that referee Deniz Aytekin was handing out the first card of the game to Weston McKennie for a foul on BVB captain Marcel Schmelzer. Schalke actually edged the first ten minutes but Dortmund were clinical as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the 12^th minute. The opener gave the hosts confidence to push on and their lead soon doubled. In the 18^th minute, Benjamin Stambouli’s attempted clearance from a Dortmund free-kick ricocheted unfortunately into the Schalke goal. Just when you began to think things couldn’t get any worse, they did. Two minutes later, Mario Götze fired home to make it 3-0 to Dortmund. However, that still wasn’t enough for the hosts who struck once again through Raphael Guerreiro in the 25th minute to make it 4-0. Many thought that was the game all wrapped up the time half-time struck and it was 4-4. How wrong they were…

Building on the second half performance

On Saturday 2nd December, Schalke seek to build on their second half performance as 1. FC Köln head to the VELTINS-Arena. It certainly won’t be a simple game for the Royal Blues as Köln find themselves in a relegation fight.