2-0 win over Osnabrück in friendly at the Parkstadion

Game moved to Gelsenkirchen at the last minute

The weather also put paid to the Royal Blues’ friendly plans. After storm Elli had already caused postponements across the Bundesliga, the match originally scheduled to take place in Osnabrück was called off on Saturday morning. Thanks to the considerable organisational efforts of all involved, however, the game was able to be moved at short notice later in the morning to the Parkstadion in Gelsenkirchen – albeit behind closed doors.

Lack of chances for both sides

From the outset, the Royal Blues took control of proceedings, although that dominance initially showed mainly in possession, with clear-cut chances slow to arrive. A through ball from Christian Gomis sent Mika Wallentowitz clear, but VfL goalkeeper Niklas Sauter was quick off his line to smother the danger (9’). A few minutes later, the keeper was again first to the ball ahead of Soufiane El-Faouzi, who had once more been played in by Christian Gomis (12’). Timo Becker also pushed forward repeatedly, combining well down his side with Mika Wallentowitz, Soufiane El-Faouzi and Christian Gomis.

The visitors produced their first notable moment after 24 minutes, when Robin Meißner appeared clean through on goal. Loris Karius stood his ground and the move was then halted by the offside flag. At the other end, Soufiane El-Faouzi tried his luck from a central position from around 20 yards, but failed to make clean contact (29’). Robin Meißner then again found himself offside in front of Karius, shortly after the first substitution of the afternoon, with Paul Pöpperl replacing Adrian Gantenbein (34’).

Osnabrück created their best chances shortly before half time. A long ball out to the right was squared by Julian Kania across the face of goal, but Mika Wallentowitz tracked back well to cut it out (41’). From the resulting corner, Robin Meißner tested Loris Karius with a strike from around 18 yards, forcing the Schalke keeper to tip the ball past the post. The final effort of a goalless first half belonged to the Royal Blues: after a pass from Paul Pöpperl, Christian Gomis tried his luck from 20 yards, but his shot drifted wide (45’).

Sylla and Younes both on the scoresheet

Schalke made eight changes at the break. Aside from Loris Karius in goal, only Timo Becker and Christian Gomis remained on the pitch. Dylan Leonard, Felipe Sanchez, Mertcan Ayhan, Henning Matriciani, Finn Porath, Mauro Zalazar, Amin Younes and Moussa Sylla were all introduced. Henning Matriciani’s appearance proved to be a brief one, however. The defender picked up an injury in a challenge with Osnabrück’s Ismail Badjie and was replaced by Tim Dietrich after just four minutes (49’).

The reshuffled side settled quickly and pushed forward with intent. Just outside the box, Christian Gomis slipped a clever pass through to Moussa Sylla, who was denied from close range by goalkeeper Niklas Sauter (52’). Shortly afterwards, the VfL defence dealt with a header from Mertcan Ayhan following an Amin Younes corner (56’). The breakthrough then arrived: from around 30 yards out, Moussa Sylla spotted that Niklas Sauter was off his line, took aim and found the far corner with a low strike to make it 1-0 to Schalke (61’).

With Mika Khadr coming on for Timo Becker soon after (62’), the Royal Blues continued to press forward. From the halfway line, Amin Younes played a measured ball in behind for Christian Gomis, who rounded the goalkeeper but could only hit the far post (65’). Three minutes later, Schalke did double their lead. After a handball in the box, Amin Younes stepped up and calmly converted the resulting penalty to make it 2-0 (68’).

That also marked the end of the afternoon for Loris Karius and Christian Gomis, the last two players from the original starting XI. Luca Podlech took over in goal, while Zaid Tchibara replaced Gomis in attack to make his first appearance after tearing his ACL (71’). Moussa Sylla remained at the heart of the action. First, Niklas Sauter saved his effort from around 10 yards (73’), then the forward was almost clean through after a pass from Mertcan Ayhan, only for the VfL keeper to race off his line and get there first once again (80’).

While the visitors failed to register a notable chance for the remainder of the second half, the Royal Blues stayed in control and saw out a comfortable win in their only friendly before the return of the 2. Bundesliga next weekend.

A trip to the capital up next

FC Schalke 04 begin the second half of the season next weekend away to Hertha BSC (17/1) at 20:30 CET. Hertha are currently sixth in the table, with the Royal Blues top at the midway mark.