18th matchday
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FC Schalke 04 and coach Kees van Wonderen remained undefeated for the fourth game in a row at the start of the second half of the 2nd Bundesliga. Against the relegation-threatened Eintracht from Braunschweig, the Royal Blues took a point back to Gelsenkirchen after a 0-0 draw on their home field. 1. FC Kaiserslautern ended the negative trend of the last games in 2024 and jumped to third place thanks to a 2-1 home win against Ulm. In the bottom of the table, Münster celebrated a last-minute three-pointer against Fürth (2-1).
1. FC Kaiserslautern started the second half of the season with a win. In front of 42,367 spectators in the Fritz Walter Stadium, the guests from Ulm were the better team in the early stages and took the lead after just four minutes with a header from Philipp Strompf. Kaiserslautern was only in the game after around 20 minutes and equalized in the 23rd minute through Marlon Ritter. The Ulm team always remained dangerous on the counterattack, but Filip Kaloc managed to give the FCK a 2-1 half-time lead with a remarkable volley in the 37th minute.
After the restart the game petered out. The people of Ulm tried hard, but were given few opportunities. The best chances to equalize went to Maurice Krattenmacher, who only hit the side netting after 54 minutes, and Aaron Keller, who was denied by Kaiserslautern’s keeper Julian Krahl in the 81st minute. On the other hand, Ragnar Ache and Afeez Aremu failed to finally decide the game in FCK’s favor earlier.
2nd Bundesliga: Preußen Münster celebrates its second home win against Fürth
With their second home win this season, Preußen Münster have given themselves a little breathing room in the relegation battle. The promoted team defeated SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:1 (1:1) and shortened the gap to 14th place in the table. from Franconia to one point. The Fürth team, on the other hand, remained without a win in their fifth competitive away game in a row and are stuck in the relegation zone.
In front of 11,791 spectators in the Preußenstadion, Joshua Mees scored both goals in the 10th and 90th minutes for the hosts, who were only able to celebrate one success in front of their own audience in the first half of the season. Niko Gießelmann (28th) scored for the guests, who were outnumbered after just over half an hour due to Simon Asta’s yellow-red card and had to replace their goalkeeper Nils Körber at half-time due to injury. The 28-year-old was between the posts for Fürth in the second division for the first time. Münster had a few chances to score the winning goal, but it was only shortly before the end that Mees scored again with a header to make it 2-1.
FC Schalke 04: goalless despite being in the majority against Braunschweig
FC Schalke 04 got off to a disappointing start to the second half of the season. At second-to-last Eintracht Braunschweig, the Ruhrpott club only managed a 0-0 draw after seven points from three games. With 21 points, Schalke remains in 13th place. Even with the majority after a red card for Braunschweig’s Jannis Nikolaou (67th minute), coach van Wonderen’s team failed to score in front of 22,389 spectators. Braunschweig gained one point and is still in 17th place.
With ex-Schalke player Lino Tempelmann, the Braunschweig team tried to put the Knappen in trouble. The midfielder came from Gelsenkirchen during the winter break and will play on loan with the North Germans in the second half of the season. Goalkeeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, who was also on loan from FC Schalke, was not allowed to play due to an agreement between the clubs. Former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius was not in the Schalke squad.