S04 win friendly in Hamburg 4-0

Schalke start with a 4-4-2 formation

The Royal Blues went with a 4-4-2 formation, with new signing Michael Gregoritsch partnering Benito Raman up front. Markus Schubert started in goal, as he will for the first game of the Rückrunde next week.

Gregoritsch scores against his former side

Schalke took control of the game after a slow start and had their first chance after eight minutes. Gregoritsch’s shot from the edge of the box just flew past the outside of the HSV post. The Austrian, who played for HSV between 2015 and 2017, then grabbed his first goal for Schalke. Bastian Oczipka’s powerful shot was met by the new signing from Augsburg to give Schalke the lead after 18 minutes.

After 22 minutes, there were celebrations for HSV, but these proved to be short-lived. Jeremy Dudziak was standing in an offside position, so their equaliser was ruled out for offside. Apart from that, the Royal Blues put in a strong defensive performance, but the hosts were also very compact. After half an hour, Benito Raman fired an effort at goal, but it was well saved by the HSV keeper, who denied the Belgian again minutes later. Although Raman had rounded the keeper, it took a good defensive block from Narey to send the ball out of play (37′). The last big chance of the first half went the home side’s way, as Markus Schubert was able to punch away a strong Jairo shot just before the break.

Two goals in six minutes

HSV came out of the dressing room with a lot more attacking intent, and had three good chances in the first few minutes of the second half. However, none of these chances ended in an equaliser, as Matija Nastasic made a good clearing challenge and Schubert got a hand to one of the efforts.

Schalke didn’t take long to react to HSV’s chance though, scoring with their first action of the second half. Raman gave the ball to Amine Harit, who took the keeper out of the game with some mesmerising footwork, before squaring it back to the Belgian to tap into the empty net for 2-0. Just six minutes later, a third goal came. Alessandro Schöpf, who had just come on as a sub, slotted home after a pass from Juan Miranda.

The game was effectively over at this point, and saw a number of changes come thereafter. One of those introductions, Rabbi Matondo, added the final goal of the game with a powerful finish to ensure it finished 4-0 to the visiting side.

Start of the Rückrunde against Gladbach

The Royal Blues’ first competitive game of 2020 comes on Friday night at home against Gladbach (17/1). Kick-off is at 20:30 CET.