Four strikers on the scoresheet in 4-1 win over Heracles Almelo

S04 begin with a 3-5-2 formation

21 Schalke players got minutes at the Parkstadion against the Dutch first-division side. Geraerts went with a 3-5-2 formation, although he switched things up for periods of the game.

First-half goals from Lasme and Terodde

1,050 fans were in attendance in the Gelsenkirchen rain and they quickly saw a goal. Lasse Wehmeyer, a Münster-born striker for Heracles, benefited from a mistake in the Schalke defence and left goalkeeper Justin Heekeren with no chance to make it 1-0 (11’).

Schalke found the perfect response by equalising just two minutes later. Bryan Lasme received the ball on the wing, drove forward and then curled it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box (13’).

The chances continued at both ends as Heraclo could have regained the lead through their goalscorer Wehmeyer, but he was denied by Heekeren (23’), At the other end, Simon Terodde headed in a free-kick from Thomas Ouwejan to put S04 ahead (29’).

The away team had another decent opportunity at the end of the first half. Heekeren got down low to divert Emil Hansson’s effort wide for a corner (42’). Lasme had a good chance to add to his tally in injury time, but couldn’t get his shot on target.  He was played in behind by a lovely Tomas Kalas ball.

Karaman and Polter add further goals

Karel Geraerts made nine changes for the second half, with only Tomas Kalas and Marcin Kaminski remaining on the pitch. Kaminski looked to have made it 3-1 five minutes after the break, heading home from a Tobias Mohr free-kick. However, he was narrowly offside and referee Lars Bramkamp therefore did not give the goal.

The Knappen did make it 3-1 in the 59th minute though. Kaminski played a nice ball to Kenan Karaman, and his deflected strike looped over the goalkeeper Fabian de Keijzer and into the back of the net.

Schalke continued to control the game, although the hosts were unable to create further chances for a while. The visitors failed to trouble the S04 goal at all in the second period, as substitute Michael Langer enjoyed a very quiet afternoon in between the sticks.

There was time for one more goal for the Royal Blues late on as well. Before that though, Tobias Mohr met Dominick Drexler’s cross with a volley, which was deflected over the bar for a corner. This set piece then resulted in the fourth goal, scored by Sebastian Polter. The corner was initially cleared but the ball found its way back out to the taker, Tobias Mohr, and he whipped it towards the back post. Drexler then squared it for Polter and he had the easy job of scoring from a couple of yards out.

Away game in Karlsruhe

Karel Geraerts’ first competitive game in charge will be next Sunday (22/10) in Karlsruhe. That matchday 10 fixture will take place at 13:30 CEST.