Darmstadt 98 gives Schalke 04 a lesson in the DFB Cup

As of: October 30, 2025 7:40 a.m

Darmstadt 98 had a great day in the second round of the DFB Cup against Schalke 04 and gave the Royal Blues a lesson.

For a long time there was a big secret about FC Schalke 04’s new defensive strength. In the second round of the DFB Cup, Darmstadt 98 solved the mystery and deservedly defeated coach Miron Muslic’s team 4-0 (2-0).

The Lilies played themselves into a frenzy at times in front of 17,000 spectators in the stadium at Böllenfalltor and could have won the game much more clearly.

This means that coach Florian Kohfeldt’s team is in the round of 16 of the cup competition, while the Royal Blues will probably need a little longer to digest this severe defeat. Hiroki Akiyama (23rd), Matej Maglica (28th), Fraser Hornby (48th) and Bartosz Bialek (60th) scored for Darmstadt.

Dominant Darmstadt residents

The game got off to a fast-paced and hard-fought start. After just five minutes, referee Felix Bickel called in the two team captains, Schalke’s Kenan Karaman and Darmstadt’s Marcel Schuhen, to calm the frothing tempers early.

The Lilies had their first chance to score after eight minutes. After a fine combination over several stations, striker Fraser Hornby had a completely free shot from 14 meters, but he didn’t hit the ball properly.

The Darmstadt team were clearly the dominant team and overran the overwhelmed Royal Blues. Schalke had great difficulty fending off the attacks. S04 goalkeeper Loris Karius was able to excel several times to save his team from falling behind.

Corner turns into a boomerang

But Schalke suddenly had a great opportunity to score. After an S04 free kick, the ball came to Karaman by chance, who was unable to volley the ball past the goalkeeper’s shoes and into the goal from five meters.

The resulting corner turned into a boomerang for the S04. The Lilies intercepted the ball, switched quickly and put Akiyama in a good shooting position. The first attempt was blocked by the Schalke defense, Akiyama’s second attempt found its way into the goal to make it 1-0.

Even after that, Darmstadt stayed on the trigger because they had found the way to overcome Schalke’s infamous offside trap – with long balls behind the defensive line or with quick transition play.

Schalke goalkeeper Karius prevents goal of the month

But first there was an unusual scoring opportunity: Luca Marseiler’s huge break from the halfway line fell like a stone from the sky and Karius (26th) was just able to direct the ball over the crossbar – and thus prevent the goal of the month. The Lilies ran and played like they were prepared, Schalke swam more and more on defense.

And it continued like this: After a shot from Patric Pfeiffer – Karius had previously dropped a cross ball for no reason – a Schalke player had to save on the goal line. But the second lily hit was in the air and then fell. Maglica was able to head in a corner almost unchallenged to make it 2-0.

And just four minutes later, attacker Isac Lidberg (32′) had the preliminary decision on his foot when he ran alone from the halfway line towards Karius, but pushed the ball past the goal.

Schalke found no resources

The second half continued as it had left off in the first half. A simple one-two, the entire Schalke defense was exposed, Hornby ran alone to Karius and made it 3-0.

The Schalke team couldn’t find any way to fend off the lilies’ attacks. The league game between the two teams five days earlier in the Schalke Arena was apparently a lesson for coach Kohfeldt and his team.

Darmstadt’s Bilaek also runs towards Karius alone

After 56 minutes, Karius had to show all his skills again to deflect a long-range shot from Hornby with his fingertips just around the goal post (57th). And just three minutes later, Bialek, who had recently been substituted, took advantage of the renewed confusion in Schalke’s defense.

The attacker also ran alone towards Karius – who must have felt very lonely and abandoned by his teammates that evening – and made it 4-0.

After that, the game was out of steam and the hosts took things much more calmly, which Schalke could live with. That didn’t change the clear victory of the lilies.

Darmstadt against Arminia, Schalke at KSC

Darmstadt awaits Arminia Bielefeld in the 2nd Bundesliga next Saturday (8.30 p.m.), Schalke travels to Karlsruher SC at midday (1 p.m.).