Sylla scores twice as Schalke put seven past Velbert to kick off pre-season

Head coach Karel Geraerts opted for a 3-5-2 formation to start pre-season. Luca Podlech was in goal in what was his first appearance for the first team. Summer signings Janik Bachmann, Amin Younes, Aris Bayindir and Peter Remmert were all handed a debut start, while fellow new faces Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, Martin Wasinski, Anton Donkor, Adrian Gantenbein and Moussa Sylla came on for the second half.

Polter and Younes score S04’s first goals of the new season

Schalke’s first dangerous attack came in just the third minute, however Peter Remmert couldn’t get on the end of Sebastian Polter’s cross. The visitors went ahead six minutes later though. Marcin Kaminski played a long ball down the left wing for Tobias Mohr to run on to and he crossed first time. His ball in was met by Sebastian Polter on the volley and his left-footed strike beat goalkeeper Marcel Lenz, a former Knappenschmiede player, to make it 1-0.

Schalke controlled the ball and the game, but Velbert’s defence was solid for most of the first half. The heavy rain in Ratingen affected the flow of the game somewhat too. The fifth-division side rarely troubled Luca Podlech in the Schalke goal, with one half chance coming from Timo Mehlich’s free-kick that the shot-stopper caught (25’).

S04 made it 2-0 after 35 minutes courtesy of new signing Amin Younes. He blocked a Velbert pass and then ran behind onto the loose ball, before dinking it over Lenz and then picking his spot. Tristan Duschke tried to head the ball clear from the line, but couldn’t get close to Younes’ powerful effort.

Velbert weren’t far off reducing the deficit three minutes after Younes’ goal. Robin Hilger found space in S04’s box and shot across goal, only for Luca Podlech to make a fine low save to his left, thus keeping it at 2-0 at the break.

Five goals in the second half – including two for Sylla

Karel Geraerts changed his whole team for the second half. One of the players introduced, Kenan Karaman, had the first shot after the break, but failed to test Marcel Lenz with an effort from the edge of the box (50’). Two minutes later, Martin Wasinski and Paul Seguin combined to play it to Bryan Lasme and he put a low ball across the box. Anton Donkor received the cross and aimed to place it in the top corner, but Lenz made a strong save. The resulting corner looked to have provided S04’s third goal, however Kenan Karaman was offside when he scored with a header (53’).

Moussa Sylla scored his first goal in Schalke colours with a little over an hour played. Seguin slipped in the striker and he crashed a shot in via the underside of the crossbar (62’). A long ball by Derry Murkin saw Sylla race in behind three minutes after scoring, but this time he could only flash the ball past the far post from what was admittedly an extremely tight angle. S04’s new number nine would get a second goal shortly afterwards though. Karaman drove through the midfield and passed to Donkor on his left. The left-back’s shot was spilled by substitute goalkeeper Cem Ural and Sylla mopped up for 4-0 (66’).

Schalke dominated the second half, creating regular chances and scoring several more goals. After Karaman’s strike went well over the bar (69’), Lasme cut in onto his left to add a fifth goal in the 71st minute. 04 minutes later, Tomas Kalas headed in a Seguin corner from close range. At the other end, Velbert’s Reo Yoshida forced Ron-Thorben Hoffmann into action, albeit the new S04 keeper was comfortable with the attempt (77’). The Knappen’s final goal came in the 83rd minute. Last season’s top goalscorer Karaman converted after a nice pass by Seguin. It remained 7-0 despite good chances for Schallenberg, who hit the bar, and Donkor, whose shot was blocked by Ural’s outstretched leg.

Tournament in Meppen

The Royal Blues are back in action on Saturday afternoon (6/7) at the ‘Nevernot Cup’ in Meppen. A mini tournament will be contested by hosts SV Meppen, Kickers Emden and S04. Schalke play Emden at 15:00 CEST and Meppen an hour later. All games will last 45 minutes.