Terodde on the scoresheet in 1-1 draw at Stuttgart

One debut, one first start – Greiml in the squad for the first time

Head coach Frank Kramer named new signing Sepp van den Berg in his starting XI, replacing Malick Thiaw, who has left the club for AC Milan. Florian Flick and Jordan Larsson both made their first starts of the season, coming in for Alex Král and Rodrigo Zalazar.

Leo Greiml, another summer signing, was in a first-team squad for the first time, having only featured four times for the U23s in the Regionalliga West so far. Kenan Karaman, who joined on deadline day, wasn’t yet in the squad, nor was Marcin Kaminski. The centre-back suffered an injury away from training and had to get stitches, preventing him from facing his former side.

Führich puts VfB ahead

In an even first few minutes, Schalke had the first chance when Jordan Larsson struck one well over from distance (4’). At the other end, Silas drove into the box but could only scuff his shot and Alexander Schwolow was able to hold it easily (5’).

The hosts had more of the ball following that chance, though they had few notable chances. Jordan Larsson had a decent opportunity after a quarter of an hour after some good work by Marius Bülter and Dominick Drexler to get the ball to him. He couldn’t get a clear shot away after some pressure from defender Waldemar Anton. VfB then took the lead in the 18th minute through Chris Führich. Silas stole the ball from Sepp van den Berg and played it to Führich. His shot was deflected past Schwolow by Maya Yoshida and hit the back of the net for 1-0 (18’).

Terodde with the equaliser

Schalke reacted perfectly to going behind and found a quick response. Tom Krauß gave it to Dominick Drexler and he played a delightful dink through to Simon Terodde. Last season’s top goalscorer lashed it into the top corner on his left foot to level things (21’). VfB failed to test out Schwolow in the rest of the first half, with Tom Krauß intercepting a dangerous Silas pass after 38 minutes.

Five minutes before that, Terodde shot over on his left whilst he was falling over (33’). The final moment of note in the first half came in the 43rd minute. Initially, Jordan Larsson’s shot was blocked by a defender, before the clearance fell to him again and he crossed to find Terodde in the six-yard box. The striker’s volley was deflected for a corner by defender Anton.

Vagnoman sent off for VfB

The second half started slowly in comparison to the first and there was little action to speak of in the final third. Lilian Egloff had the first shot, striking one low just past Schalke’s post (57’). His effort most likely wouldn’t have counted anyway as Hiroki Ito was in an offside position and in Alexander Schwolow’s field of vision. Schalke gained a man advantage from the 67th minute following Josha Vagnoman’s red card. He saw a second yellow after fouling Tobias Mohr on the wing.

It took Kramer’s side a while to really make use of the extra man. Silas had Stuttgart’s last chance with 15 minutes left, shooting over the bar. The Royal Blues went on to carve out three decent opportunities in search of a winner. The first came when Rodrigo Zalazar slipped in Tom Krauß, who saw his shot saved well by Florian Müller after he took on Ito successfully (78’).

Two chances for Zalazar

The away fans came close to celebrating a winning goal twice before the end. Firstly, Marius Bülter drove a cross-cum-shot into the box and that was parried by Müller. The rebound landed at Rodrigo Zalazar’s feet, and the Uruguayan saw his shot blocked by Pascal Stenzel (89’). These two were involved once again just a minute later. Bülter put a dangerous cross into the box and Zalazar got on the end of it, however he couldn’t make enough contact to get it on target. Referee Florian Badstübner blew up two minutes later with the scores still level.

Neighbours Bochum up next

S04 will play host to local rivals VfL Bochum next matchday. The game will take place on Saturday (10/9) at 18:30 at the VELTINS-Arena.