Schalke beat Hannover 3-1 at home

Stambouli takes the captain’s armband

Head coach Domenico Tedesco made five changes to the team that faced 1. FC Köln in the DFB-Pokal. Benjamin Stambouli, Daniel Caligiuri, Nabil Bentaleb, Suat Serdar and Breel Embolo came in for Naldo, Hamza Mendyl, Sebastian Rudy, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Guido Burgstaller. Benjamin Stambouli led the Royal Blues, taking the captain’s armband again.

Referee Schmidt reverses his penalty decision

Both teams didn’t take any risks early in the game, with the first notable chance falling to Hannover after 17 minutes, but Salif Sané was on hand to block Iver Fossum’s shot. Schalke woke up after this and got into the game more. Fans and players alike were celebrating in the 20th minute, as Mark Uth converted a pass from Nabil Bentaleb. Referee Markus Schmidt ruled the goal out for offside though.

Schalke continued to press forwards and were then awarded a penalty in the 32nd minute. Suat Serdar played in Mark Uth, who then fell to ground after a collision with Josip Elez. After consulting the video referee, Schmidt reversed his decision and Schalke didn’t get their penalty. Uth was involved in the next highlight, narrowly missing the far post with his shot in the area. Ihlas Bebou also came close for the guests on the stroke of half time, but couldn’t get enough contact on Julian Korb’s cross to give Hannover the lead.

Uth wins a penalty – Bentaleb converts

Schalke injected more tempo into the game after the break, with Alessandro Schöpf’s shot 48 minutes in being a signal of things to come. Ten minutes later, the deadlock was finally broken. Mark Uth was brought down by keeper Philipp Tschauner and Nabil Bentaleb confidently tucked home the penalty. Both teams continued to carve out good chances in the next few minutes, but Miiko Albonorz for Hannover and Breel Embolo both couldn’t add to the goals in the game.

Embolo counters Weydandt, Uth seals the win

Hannover got their equaliser on 70 minutes – the goal coming from substitute Hendrik Weydandt, who headed home a Bebou cross from the right hand side. Schalke’s response, however, was perfect. Guido Burgstaller played a long pass into the penalty area and the ball eventually fell to Breel Embolo, who stayed cool and stabbed home for 2-1 just a minute after Hannover’s equaliser. Hannover continued to drive forwards, but it was Schalke who scored the final goal of the day. Burgstaller played a lovely pass to Amine Harit, who then found Mark Uth. He was then able to grab his first ever Schalke goal and seal the win, five minutes from the end.

Galatasaray up first, then a trip to Frankfurt

S04 are back in action this coming Tuesday (6/11) against Galatasaray in the Champions League (kick off 21:00 CET). The next Bundesliga game is against Eintracht Frankfurt next Sunday (11/11 at 18:00 CET).