Rodrigo Zalazar and Schalke’s Uruguayan connection

Zalazar’s 29th minute strike was the Royal Blue’s reward for spirited opening phase of the match, who were rallied on by their supporters. Perhaps the midfielder was himself spurred on by his 23rd birthday – which he celebrated the day before. After nine minutes, his first effort blazed just over the visitors’ crossbar.

Situation recognised and converted

He was then able to celebrate 20 minutes later, when he put the ball into the bottom left corner. Zalazar indeed started the move himself – combining perfectly with Tobias Mohr as the team guided the ball out of their own half and through midfield. “I had a good first touch,” Zalazar commented. “I had the space and saw a clear route to goal, which I was able to take advantage of.”

It was the Uruguayan’s first ever Bundesliga goal – the seventh player from his country to score in the league. Four of his predecessors – Gustavo Varela, Dario Rodrigues, Vicente Sanchez und Carlos Grossmüller – all played for Schalke 04.

Zalazar came close to adding to two more to his account. He firstly saw a free-kick go just over the bar, and a shot from 21 yards just after the break went the wrong side of the post.  Gladbach exerted their share of the pressure throughout the game, on which Zalazar said: “It was a very difficult game. Gladbach like having the ball and they’ve got quick players which enable them to do that. But we held our own well.”

It is important “that we are in top physical condition, which is what you need to stay up in the Bundesliga,” explained the goalscorer on the challenges of the Bundesliga. “The tempo of the match and the quality of the players is much different to that of the 2. Bundesliga. Even a little mistake can lead to you conceding – it’s often very end-to-end,” he added.

First looked away, then wheeled away

The 23-year-old watched the two goals that turned the game in the visitors‘ favour from the bench after his 66th-minute substitution for Florent Mollet. Shortly before the final whistle, however, he was once again in the thick of the action: After Marius Bülter’s scored from the spot in the fourth minute of injury time to make it 2-2, Zalazar joined in the celebrations of the Royal Blue crowd, like many of his teammates. „I was so nervous – I could hardly look,“ says Zalazar on the moments before the penalty was taken. „But I was sure that Marius would bury it. He trains for this situation all the time during the week, that’s why we all believed it was going in.”

The draw was ultimately the reward for the effort the home side had put in on a warm Saturday evening at the VELTINS-Arena. „We are happy to have got our first point. But now’s not the time to rest, we’re going to get straight to work with next Saturday in mind,“ added Zalazar, who wants his side to get their first win on the board next weekend away at VfL Wolfsburg.