Schalke 04 can breathe a sigh of relief: In the basement duel against Eintracht Braunschweig, the Royal Blues narrowly retained the upper hand 1-0 (0-0). The man of the day was Kenan Karaman. Schalke moved three points clear of the relegation zone in the table.
Schalke’s coach Karel Geraerts had reacted to the false start to 2024: In addition to keeper Marius Müller, who was allowed to take Ralf Fährmann’s place, the Belgian brought five new players into his starting line-up. And Schalke had trouble finding their way at first.
Schalke – difficulties in the game structure
There was a problem in the build-up, the Royal Blues played too many safety balls in order to embarrass the Braunschweig defense, which was doing quite well.
So the first chance to score went to the guests: Ryan Philippe had space behind the Schalke defense after a hit. Defender Derry Murkin was just able to intercept his cross pass to Johan Gomez, who was running with him, with a long ball (19th).
Karaman hits the crossbar
But Schalke slowly worked their way into the game. Marcin Kaminski failed with a header past BTSV goalkeeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann (22′).
After a good half hour, Schalke had the goal on their lips. Kenan Karaman had cleverly asserted himself on the half-left. His left-footed shot was well placed but hit the crossbar. A little later, Simon Terodde picked up a botched back pass from Braunschweig, but failed to hit the goal from a tight angle.
Karaman hits the goal
Eintracht Braunschweig came to the Schalke Arena with four wins in a row – but the series threatened to break after the break. The team allowed itself to be pushed back and increasingly produced individual errors.
One such lead gave Schalke the lead in the 61st minute. The Eintracht defense underestimated a long ball to the left side, where Karaman suddenly had free space. The Schalke attacker kept his calm and deliberately pushed the ball into the far corner to make it 1-0.
S04 manages and cheers
Schalke then withdrew and left the midfield to the visitors. Maybe not the bravest tactic, but ultimately a successful one. Despite a few tricky situations, the host team held up well and brought the important three points across the finish line.
Schalke is heading to the far north on Sunday (February 11, 2024). At Holstein Kiel the next points will be up for grabs from 1:30 p.m. The day before, Eintracht Braunschweig welcomes Karlsruher SC (1 p.m.).