4-1 friendly win against Verl on Soppy's S04 debut

The Knappen, for whom Brandon Soppy was making his debut, had their first opportunity in the 14th minute after some good build-up play, but Lino Tempelmann was unable to convert after being played in by Keke Topp. Thomas Ouwejan (31’) and Yusuf Kabadayi (36’) also spurned chances for S04 in the first period. Dominick Drexler left the pitch with a foot injury on 40 minutes, with Jimmy Kaparos replacing the midfielder.

The visitors had chances of their own in the first half, with a deflected effort from Nicolas Sessa (29’), Nico Ochojski (34’) and Lars Lokotsch from a corner (45’) providing moments of particular danger.

S04 turn the game around

The second half, which saw nine additional substitutes join Kaparos on the pitch for Schalke, was a much higher-scoring affair than the first, with a total of five goals. The opening goal, though, came on the wrong side of the scoreboard, as Marco Mannhardt put Verl ahead on 61 minutes, before Bryan Lasme responded three minutes later with an audacious lob to make it 1-1.

Substitute Niklas Castelle completed the comeback in the 68th minute, assisted by Paul Pöpperl, before the latter added a goal of his own to make it 3-1 (72’). Nelson Amadin put the icing on the cake on 86 minutes for a final score of 4-1.