Was there something about a crisis? Schalke 04 has given the perfect answer to its own period of weakness. There was a well-deserved 4:2 (2:1) win at leaders SC Paderborn. Kenan Karaman was the decisive man with a brace (43’/69′), Moussa Sylla (23′) and Janik Bachmann (88′) also scored. The goals from Koen Kostons (11th) and Felix Götze (52nd) were not enough for the SCP, which will still remain first.
After several people in charge at Schalke had emphasized in advance that the team was in the middle of a relegation battle, they apparently took it literally. From the very first second, the guests were extremely robust; in the first four minutes, three Paderborn players had to be treated after (overly) hard duels.
Paderborn takes S04 by surprise, but also lets themselves be taken by surprise
And Royal Blue actually managed to get into the game and made a pretty good impression – but then Schalke defended like Schalke again. A long ball from Götze was enough to undermine the entire defense and Kostons, completely free, had no problems putting Paderborn in the lead (11th). It was already the 30th goal conceded for Schalke, only bottom team Jahn Regensburg (33) conceded more.
But coach Kees van Wonderen’s team was unimpressed and continued to play well – and they were rewarded for their good performance. Amin Younes opened the game with a dream pass to Mehmet Aydin and Sylla used his assist to equalize in the second attempt (23′).
Karaman rewarded what was probably Schalke’s best half of the season
Schalke played well for 23 minutes – and became even stronger afterwards. Marcin Kaminski (28th), Derry Murkin (33rd/latte), Karaman (35th) and Ron Schallenberg (39th) missed really good chances to take the lead, which the guests earned more and more with every minute. Paderborn seemed surprised by the strength of their opponent, who had once again shocked their own fans the previous week against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (0:3).
In this guest game, however, Schalke gave them joy, and even more so shortly before the half-time whistle. Karaman made Götze look completely old with his dribbling and coldly converted into the far corner (43′). He crowned a performance that actually deserved more than a 2-1. The impressive statistics: 58 percent ball possession, 15:2 shots on goal, 6:0 corners.
The back and forth continues in the second round
Schalke’s problem, however, was that they couldn’t continue like this and the league leaders were able to take command at the start of the second half. And the weaknesses in the defense quickly became apparent again. After a cross from Robin Zehnter, two Paderborn players were completely free five meters in front of the Schalke goal and Götze headed the equalizer (52nd).
However, Schalke once again managed to react well to this setback and after conceding the goal they were once again on par and then the better team. And they could rely on their captain, Karaman headed the S04 back into the lead after a long free kick (69′). But it almost only lasted four minutes because Götze headed just over the goal after a corner (73′), but shortly afterwards Sylla didn’t miss much to increase the score (75′).
Bachmann puts the lid on it
Schalke had only got six points in the previous seven games and now there was much to suggest that there would be a three-pointer, which not only came unexpectedly, but because of the way it was played, could have much more effect than an improved situation in the table . And Bachmann crowned it with the fourth S04 goal of the evening, which finally decided the game (88th).
A small consolation for Paderborn: Lukas Kwasniok’s team will lose a large part of their advantage over the competition, but they won’t lose their lead in the table for the time being. Hamburger SV and Co. can only get within one point. Schalke, on the other hand, was able to move a little away from the relegation places.
Paderborn in Magdeburg, Schalke against Düsseldorf
Paderborn is heading to Magdeburg next week (December 14th, 1 p.m.). At the same time, Schalke is hosting the team from Düsseldorf.