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“I’m not known for my heading ability!”
Domenico Tedesco seemed more at ease at the press conference after Schalke beat Mainz 1-0. FSV head coach, Sandro Schwarz, on the other hand, was annoyed that his team failed to take a point which he felt would have been deserved. Goalscorer Alessandro Schöpf and his teammate Guido Burgstaller joked about the former's winning goal.
Domenico Tedesco:
We’re very pleased to have our first three points of the season; a lot of weight has been taken off our shoulders now. I’m mainly happy for the fans and for the team as well. On the whole, the first half was good. We played some good football and pressed them well. We were intelligent and calm today, something which we need to try and consistently do over 90 minutes. There was a lot of play in the middle of the park, but we were also very strong out wide. Yehven Konoplyanka and Hamza Mendyl got forwards well, while Amine Harit supported them well. Suat Serdar also worked hard. Overall I would like congratulate the whole team. We dominated the centre of the pitch and found a good balance between long balls and short passes. We should have killed the game off in the second half, especially with the chances we had on the counter. At the end we were lacking a bit of energy and subsequently sat back a bit more. It is often the case that when you don’t take your chances on the break you will have to defend better, which thankfully we did. We are delighted that we managed to hold on and get the win.
Sandro Schwarz:
We started the game well and had some good opportunites, which we had to take and we didn’t. Schalke scored with their first attack and from this point we didn’t play as well. We still created a chance through Robin Quaison but his shot went narrowly wide. In the second half, we switched our formation to a diamond and had several good moments. We did a lot of things correctly until we reached Schalke‘s penalty box. We played decently well in the second half but we lacked the final product necessary to take at least a point from the match.
Alessandro Schöpf:
After five losses, we knew how important today’s match was. The pressure grows with every game. I already experienced this two years ago. Therefore, I am very pleased that we have secured our first three points of the season. A massive amount of weight has been taken off our shoulders. Domenico Tedesco prepared us for the game brilliantly. He said that we should play with freedom despite the previous results and this worked for us today. I was at the right place at the right time to score today. The opposition are always in trouble when Yevhen Konoplyanka has the ball on the left wing. He is also very strong in one-on-one situations. I knew exactly what he was going to do, ran at pace and fired the ball home. It is unusual for me to score in this way because I’m not really known for my heading ability.
Guido Burgstaller:
I never knew that Schöpf was good in the air (laughs). I’m pleased that he scored again as his last goal was a long time ago and it was really important for the rest of the team. I’m convinced that everything has clicked into place. It was fantastic to celebrate in front of the fans after the final whistle. The fans have fully supported us throughout the disappointment of the last few weeks. Schalke deserved to win today! We fought for every ball and everyone gave everything they had. Therefore, we should have sealed the victory long before the final whistle. We had multiple chances to double our lead but it was tight towards the end of the match.