S04 lose 2-1 at Hertha after conceding late on

Five changes – new signing Kolodziejczak on the bench

Interim coach Matthias Kreutzer made five changes to the side that lost in the cup at Hoffenheim. Tom Krauß, Marius Bülter, Mehmet Can Aydin, Dominick Drexler and Cedric Brunner replaced Jordan Larsson, Danny Latza, Florian Flick, Florent Mollet and Tobias Mohr in the starting XI. Those five players were joined on the bench by new signing Timothée Kolodziejczak.

Bülter’s stunner is ruled out

The first half was an intense and even affair between the two sides. Schalke set up with a back-three in the capital under interim coach Matthias Kreutzer. Both teams had early chances, though neither were particularly dangerous. Wilfried Kanga was played in behind but struck his shot straight at Alexander Schwolow (2’), then Dominick Drexler hit the side-netting a minute later. In the fifth minute, Dodi Lukebakio crossed the ball in to find Kanga at the near post, however he couldn’t force it past Schwolow from a tight angle. At the other end, Drexler (8’) and Simon Terodde (13’) had half chances for S04.

Schalke were tight at the back in the first half and played with real aggression and intensity, which saw them create several decent chances. The away fans were celebrating after 15 minutes when Marius Bülter spectacularly volleyed in a cross from Mehmet Can Aydin. However, VAR informed referee Martin Petersen that Bülter was narrowly offside in the build-up and so his rocket was chalked off.

Another Bülter goal disallowed

The ball was again in the back of the Hertha net seven minutes later, but once again it didn’t count. Oliver Christensen parried Simon Terodde’s shot to Bülter and he found the empty net. Linesman Alexander Sather put his flag up for offside from Thomas Ouwejan’s pass to Terodde, although the final touch actually came from Hertha’s Lukebakio, who was caught by Ouwejan on the foot.

The final two opportunities of the half belonged to the Berliners. Stevan Jovetic couldn’t properly connect from Lukebakio’s cross (26’) and Kanga cleared the bar with a half-volley just before the break.

Tousart scores from distance for Hertha

Despite starting the second half well enough and earning two corners, Schalke went behind early on. Lucas Tousart tried his luck from distance and Schwolow couldn’t keep his shot out despite getting a hand on it (49’).

Schalke were still well in the game after conceding, though the Knappen couldn’t quite get the final pass or ball right from counter-attacks. It took until the 70th minute for the next chance for either side. Lukebakio crossed for Marco Richter at the far post, who took the ball down and then smashed it well over.

Mollet equalises, Kanga wins it

Kreutzer made attacking changes to try and get Schalke a goal and brought on Kenan Karaman and Sebastian Polter up front. The German came extremely close to scoring with his first touch, heading just wide (83’). Two minutes later though, Schalke did get their goal. Another substitute, Florent Mollet, got it with a right-footed shot from around 15 yards out.

Schalke’s joy at a potential point was short-lived. In the 88th minute, Jovetic set Kanga in behind and he slotted past Schwolow to seal a 2-1 win for his side.

Freiburg at home on a Sunday night

S04’s next match is at home to SC Freiburg on Sunday (30/10) at 17:30 CEST.