2nd Bundesliga, 9th matchday
Wild traditional duel: Schalke storms into first place
Updated 10/17/2025 – 8:44 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The “Royal Blues” play a strange game with hosts Hannover 96. The game begins with two shots for the Lower Saxony team – who are then unlucky. Meanwhile, Fortuna Düsseldorf is suffering a setback.
FC Schalke 04 is at least temporarily the new leader of the 2nd Bundesliga. The “Royal Blues” won the top game at the start of the 9th matchday 3-0 (2-0) at Hannover 96 and thus celebrated their fourth win in a row.
Moussa Sylla (3rd, 14th) and Christian Gomis (86th) scored to give coach Miron Muslić’s team a deserved victory against Lower Saxony, who were unlucky that two of their own goals were disallowed due to offside positions (16th, 35th). After looking at the pictures, referee Martin Petersen also took back a penalty for Hannover after an alleged handball (49th).
A spectacle was inevitable in front of 49,000 spectators, including more than 10,000 Schalke players, and none of the previous 86 duels had ended goalless. S04 pressed high, won the ball in the opponent’s box – and Sylla finished with a fine shot into the far corner. When the score was 2-0, the 25-year-old, who had already considered a change in the summer, only had to head in after a cross at the back post.
Hannover was briefly shocked, but then started running. The ball even landed in the net twice, but both Mustapha Bundu (16th) and Hayate Matsuda (34th) were offside. The hosts were also unlucky at the beginning of the second half when referee Martin Petersen, even after a long view of the TV images, did not decide on a handball by Schalke’s Vitalie Becker and thus awarded a penalty for 96. The goal anthem was played again, but Bundu’s shot ended up in the side netting (64′). Then Gomis made everything clear after a corner.
Thanks to the threesome, Eintracht not only moved past the home team in the table, but also gave coach Heiner Backhaus, who was brought in in the summer, an important sense of achievement.