Schalke lose 2-0 to Werder Bremen

Nübel replaces injured Fährmann

Head coach Domenico Tedesco made three changes after the 2-0 away win against Düsseldorf. Captain Ralf Fährmann pulled out of the side in the warm up, being replaced by Alexander Nübel, who therefore made his first start of his professional career. Amine Harit and Alessandro Schöpf also came in for Franco Di Santo and Suat Serdar. Naldo took the captain’s armband from Fährmann for the game.

Maximilian Eggestein scores just before the break

The Royal Blues tried to push forward in the first half on many occasions, but failed to carve out any notable chances. Guido Burgstaller came closest, with his shot on the turn going just over the bar five minutes into the game.

Werder also failed to make any real opportunities until two minutes before the break. Max Kruse set up Maximilian Eggestein, who beat Nübel from the edge of the box with a low shot to give Werder a 1-0 lead at the break.

Big chance after the break

The second half almost started perfectly for Schalke. After just ten seconds, Werder failed to clear a long ball from Naldo and Amine Harit released a powerful volley which just cleared Jiri Pavlenka’s crossbar. The best chance for the equaliser came after 58 minutes. Guido Burgstaller beat Milos Veljkovic to the ball and managed to get clean through on goal, before being denied well by Pavlenka’s feet.

Eggestein gets his second

On the other hand, the guests were more clinical. In the 66^th minute, Max Kruse initiated a dangerous counter attack for Werder and set up Eggestein again, who was able to curl the ball inside the far post with his left foot for 2-0.

Schalke didn’t give up, but were lacking a bit of luck in their game. Weston McKennie and Franco Di Santo both could have got on the end of a Mark Uth cross, but failed to make any contact on 64 minutes. Naldo’s header was well saved by Pavlenka in the 72nd minute, before Uth hit the crossbar with his header two minutes from time, albeit with a huge defelction by Pavlenka. It therefore ended 2-0 for an effective Bremen side.

Three consecutive away games, then Hannover at home

The next game will take place on Wednesday (24/10, 21:00 CEST) in Istanbul, as Schalke will take on Galatasaray in the Champions League. After this, Schalke will face RB Leipzig (28/10, 15:30 CEST) in the Bundesliga, ahead of a trip to Köln in the DFB-Pokal (31/10, 18:30 CEST). The next home game is then against Hannover 96 (3/11, 15:30 CEST).