S04 secure 2-1 friendly win over Alemannia Aachen

Head coach Kees van Wonderen took the opportunity to give minutes to players that hadn’t featured much in recent weeks. The game was played behind closed doors after no police authorisation was given for fans to attend. Zaid Amoussou-Tchibara, Ayman Gulasi and Mika Khadr from the U19s were all in the squad.

The fit first-team players that weren’t in the squad for this game trained instead prior to the friendly. Taylan Bulut, Max Grüger and Ibrahima Cissé are currently away on international duty.

Lino Tempelmann scored the only goal before the break. The midfielder fired a shot home into the far corner on his left foot from the edge of the box in the 29th minute. The visitors had several decent chances of their own in the first half, but Ron-Thorben Hoffmann was able to make two good saves (6’, 39’).

Five minutes after the interval, Aachen levelled the game thanks to Sasa Strujic. Less than two minutes later though, Peter Remmert was fouled in the box, giving Schalke a great chance to restore their advantage. Janik Bachmann, however, saw his penalty saved by goalkeeper Marcel Johnen.

The Knappen did get a second and winning goal though: Zaid Amoussou-Tchibara headed in a Gulasi cross late on to earn a 2-1 victory.

“It was an intense game with lots of energy and tackles,” said head coach Kees van Wonderen. “It was important for all the lads to get minutes, they did well.”