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S04 suffer 1-0 defeat to Sint-Truidense V.V.
A friendly defeat: FC Schalke 04 were beaten 1-0 by Belgian first division side Sint-Truidense V.V. on Tuesday (07/01). New signing Michael Gregoritsch made his first appearance in the Royal Blue jersey. Matija Nastastic returned from his absence caused by a knee injury.
The team started well at the Pinatar Arena and put the opposition under a lot of pressure in the early stages of the game. The first chance fell to Daniel Caligiuri, whose free kick flew just over the bar (9’). The Belgian side had their first shot on goal a few minutes later. After winning the ball off Levant Mercan in midfield, Yuma Suzuki tried to lob Markus Schubert, but the Schalke keeper was able to pull off a save (13’).
Sint-Truidense V.V. take the lead after 28 minutes
The Royal Blues’ opponents grew into the game as the second half wore on. Suzuki, in particular, was a constant source of danger and it was he who found the opening goal. The Japanese forward finished off the scraps from a Colombatto cross with some assistance from Mory Konaté. Schalke did not trouble the opposition keeper for the rest of the half.
11 changes at the break
As planned, David Wagner rotated his entire team at half time. Michael Gregoritsch played up top with Benito Raman for this new XI in a 4-4-2 system and got stuck in straightaway. Schalke applied more pressure in the second half but were often lacking the all-important final pass.
A Gregoritsch free kick almost led to an equaliser but the goalkeeper denied him an unofficial debut goal (74’). Suat Serdar had his chance to make it 1-1 not long afterwards after a through ball from Benito Raman, but the Germany international was unable to convert the chance and the game finished 1-0.
Next stop: Hamburg
On Friday (10/01), Schalke will play another friendly. This time Wagner’s men will face Hamburger SV at the Volksparkstadion at 18:00 CET.
