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Schalke play out 0-0 draw in Leipzig
A busy week of football culminated in a 0-0 draw at RB Leipzig on Sunday afternoon. There was little goal-mouth action in a battling encounter, although the best chances fell to Royal Blues Breel Embolo and Weston McKennie.
Two personnel changes
Domenico Tedesco brought two new faces to his line-up in comparison to the side that drew at Galatasaray during the week. Weston McKennie and Nabil Bentaleb were given the nod at the Red Bull Arena in place of Sebastian Rudy and Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Sebastian Rudy’s absence on Sunday was down to a cold, while S04 continued to be without Ralf Fährmann in goal due to an adductor problem. Benjamin Stambouli wore the captain’s armband.
Embolo heads narrowly wide
It took some time for the game to pick up speed, with neither side willing to take too big a risk. The hosts upped the ante after around quarter of an hour and enjoyed more of the ball. Timo Werner also created their best chance of the half, but his shot just cleared the target.
The Royal Blues grew in confidence as the half progressed and soon began to take the initiative. A gold opportunity of their own then arrived in the 29th minute. Nabil Bentaleb’s corner found an unmarked Breel Embolo at the far post, only for the Swiss to head the ball inches wide of the goal.
McKennie hits the bar
Schalke continued to look the most likely to score after the break and only the woodwork denied Weston McKennie from doing so. Again it was a Bentaleb corner that found the American, whose header clipped the top of the crossbar. Just 60 seconds later, the ball was in the back of S04’s net, however. Fortunately, the flag went up to rule Yussuf Poulsen’s effort out for offside.
Substitutes inevitably followed but they failed to have an impact on the game for either team. As the 90th minute approached, no one was willing to risk losing the point they had defended resolutely so far and so it remained goalless in Leipzig.
Cup in Cologne, then Hannover
There’s another busy week ahead for the Royal Blues. Next up on at 18:30 CET on Wednesday is a DFB-Pokal second-round tie against 1. FC Köln, before Domenico Tedesco & Co. welcome Hannover 96 to the VELTINS-Arena on Saturday from 15:30 CET. Hamza Mendyl will be missing for that Bundesliga clash, having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Leipzig.