Marius Bülter: It can happen once, but not four or five times

Bülter, who had scored eight goals in 58 Bundesliga games for the Köpenick side, scored from the spot after a handball, equalising following the visitors‘ 31st-minute opener and raising hopes of a successful afternoon at the VELTINS-Arena. The question of who would take the penalty had already been agreed before kick-off, he reported. Schalke’s number 11 did his job perfectly – sending Union keeper Frederik Rönnow the wrong way, and firing confidently into the bottom left corner.

However, the goal celebrations in front of the Nordkurve were not to last long. The away side scored two more goals before the break, and went to add a further three in the second half. „If you look at the goals we conceded, every single one of them was poorly defended,“ commented Bülter, holding the whole team responsible. „We simply have to eliminate the mistakes. All too often, it was a long ball that led to a goal. That can happen once, but not four or five times.“

Analyse the game, then full focus on Stuttgart

The Schalke goalscorer hopes that this heavy defeat will sharpen the team’s senses. „No game in the Bundesliga is easy,“ he stressed, adding that after a decent first half, the Royal Blues were simply not convincing after the restart: „We have to take responsibility for that,“ he stated.

Nevertheless, it is now key to draw a line under the loss after it has analysed and debriefed. „As difficult as it is going to be, we have to pick our heads up and turn our focus to Stuttgart. We absolutely want to do better there and take our first victory of the season.”