Royal Blues beaten late on in Freiburg

Four changes to the starting XI

Head coach Miron Muslic made four changes from the side that drew 0-0 with SV Elversberg before the break. Adrian Gantenbein, who had been sidelined by an ankle injury picked up in pre-season, made his Bundesliga debut, with Junior Dina Ebimbe moving to the bench. Maximilian Wöber came in for Timo Becker at centre-back, while Moussa Sylla and Junior Adamu replaced Adil Aouchiche and Edin Džeko in attack.

Freiburg on top early on

The game got off to a lively start. Satoshi Tanaka slid in to cut out a pass inside the Freiburg half before driving forward and trying to find a teammate in the box, but his ball was overhit (3’). Freiburg then won possession high up the pitch at the other end, with Derry Scherhant’s shot deflected behind. Schalke cleared the first corner but conceded another, and that one proved costly. Loris Karius produced an excellent save to keep out Matthias Ginter’s header, but Maximilian Eggestein was first to the rebound and tucked it away to put the hosts 1-0 up (10’).

Freiburg continued to have the better of the opening stages, forcing Schalke to spend long spells on the back foot. Jan-Niklas Beste sent a low ball into the middle for Igor Matanovic, who had space around the penalty spot, but Hasan Kuruçay got across in time to block his effort (18’). The possession figures remained fairly even, although S04 were yet to register a shot. Freiburg continued to look dangerous down the left, with Karius gathering another testing delivery from Scherhant (26’).

Gantenbein levels with Schalke’s first effort

S04’s first shot arrived on the half-hour mark – and it brought the equaliser. Backhaus punched Gosens’ corner straight out to Gantenbein, who caught his volley sweetly and, with the help of a slight deflection, found the bottom-right corner to make it 1-1 (30’). It was the perfect way for the Swiss defender to mark his Bundesliga debut and gave the Royal Blues a real lift after a difficult opening spell.

Schalke then survived a scare of their own. Gosens tried to clear a cross but only succeeded in striking Katic, sending the ball spinning back towards goal. Fortunately, Karius reacted sharply to prevent an own goal (39’). Another dangerous Scherhant delivery was then turned behind for Freiburg’s sixth corner, which Karius claimed safely (44’). The home side were unable to create anything further during the three minutes of added time.

There were no changes from either team at the break. Freiburg again had the first opening of the second half, with Beste sliding a dangerous pass through for Scherhant. Gantenbein read the situation well, though, and made a strong challenge inside the box (49’). Suzuki was then shown the first yellow card of the afternoon after kicking the ball away after Schalke were awarded a free kick (50’).

S04 soon began to offer more going forward. Gosens played Karaman in down the left, and the captain tried to send a low ball across the face of goal. Backhaus got a touch on it though, taking it away from the players waiting in the middle (51’). Ginter was the next player booked after reacting angrily to a foul on former Freiburg striker Adamu (57’).

Schalke push on as Freiburg go down to ten

The Royal Blues were now playing with far more purpose. Sylla combined well with El-Faouzi before getting a shot away inside the area, only for Engelhardt to get across and deflect it behind (59’). Schalke went even closer from the resulting corner as Katic met the delivery with a header that Matanovic deflected onto the crossbar just in front of the line (60’). The momentum then swung further in S04’s favour. Suzuki caught El-Faouzi on the foot in a challenge and was shown his second yellow card, leaving Freiburg with ten men (64’).

Julian Schuster reacted immediately, bringing on Lucas Höler for Matanovic (65’) before introducing Bi Irié and Keisuke Goto for Engelhardt and Beste three minutes later. Muslic also made a double change, with Ron Schallenberg replacing Tanaka and Džeko coming on for Adamu (68’). Schalke now had more of the ball, while Freiburg dropped deeper and looked for opportunities on the break. One such chance came through Scherhant, who burst forward into the box but lost his footing at the crucial moment (74’).

Goto snatches it late for Freiburg

Muslic made three more changes with just over ten minutes remaining, bringing on Timo Becker, Adil Aouchiche and Hee Chan Hwang for Wöber, Gantenbein and Sylla (79’). The reshuffle also saw Schalke switch to a back four. Freiburg responded by sending on Vincenzo Grifo and Lukas Kübler for Scherhant and Philipp Treu (83’) – and the change paid off almost immediately. Grifo swung a cross into the box and Goto rose to head Freiburg back in front at 2-1 (85’).

The late goal was a blow for the Royal Blues, who had looked the more likely side to score after Freiburg went down to ten. Muslic’s side nevertheless kept pushing in the closing stages, with Becker sending a long throw into the box (89’) before Backhaus gathered Džeko’s cross at the second attempt. Five minutes were added on, but Schalke were unable to create another clear chance and Freiburg saw out the closing stages to take all three points.

Mainz up next at home

FC Schalke 04 return to the VELTINS-Arena next Saturday (17/10), when they host 1. FSV Mainz 05, who were beaten 4-3 by Bayer 04 Leverkusen this weekend. It will be S04’s first 15:30 CEST kick-off of the season.