FC Schalke wins against Armina Bielefeld and defends the top of the table. The most noticeable S04 player was once again striker Edin Dzeko.
The success of FC Schalke 04 in these weeks depends primarily on one player: Edin Dzeko (15th) was the one who won the game against Arminia Bielefeld 1-0 (1-0) with his goal of the day for the Ruhr area club.
The approximately 61,000 spectators in the Gelsenkirchen Arena, where the 750th major event took place since its construction, saw another powerful performance from the attacker.
Coach Miron Muslic’s team defended their lead in the table and took another step towards direct promotion. “Emotional control is absolutely important for a head coach, especially here at Schalke. In the end we did one thing, the win is well deserved. This is Edin Dzeko, he has always been right for 22 years,” Muslic told Sportschau.
The Bielefeld team, on the other hand, is still stuck in the threatening lower table regions of the 2nd Bundesliga. “I’m very disappointed, but the way it was played was very good. But: You have to be a bit more dangerous in front of goal. You can’t win a game like that, it wasn’t enough in terms of offensive power,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat told Sportschau.
Anchor in the storm point
Whenever a Schalke player approached the Bielefeld penalty area with the ball, the look went up briefly and the important question arose: Where is Dzeko?
The 39-year-old Bosnian has been the anchor in the attacking team of coach Miron Muslic since the start of the second half of the season, and is probably the team’s most important player. Because all the Royal Blues players know: If Dzeko gets the ball, it will be extremely dangerous for the opponent.
Dzeko holds out his foot
Of course again against East Westphalia. The attacker was again in the right place after a corner when the ball bounced off the Bielefeld crossbar back into the field after a header from Mertcan Ayhan and Dzeko only had to put his foot in from six meters to make it 1-0. However, Arminia goalkeeper Jonas Kersken had previously made a gross miscalculation when running out
This stunning goal was the former world-class striker’s fifth goal in his seventh appearance for Royal Blue, meaning he has scored all of his goals for Schalke in the four home games so far.
Bielefeld with a courageous appearance
However, Bielefeld did not disappoint either, as they acted courageously and aggressively from the start. Schalke’s substitute goalkeeper Kevin Müller – regular goalkeeper Loris Karius is still injured – had to make two last-second saves against Joel Grodowski (3rd) and Jannik Rochelt (35th).
In the second half, Schalke completely took the initiative; Bielefeld were mainly busy nipping the Royal Blues’ chances to score in the bud. And when things got dangerous, Dzeko was always there.
Bielefeld’s goal doesn’t count
Arminia goalkeeper Kersken was able to quickly parry a shot from Dzeko (61′) from close range; after another corner, S04 attacker Kenan Karaman (68′) only hit the Bielefeld crossbar. Schalke were sloppy with their scoring opportunities.
“Our defense did a great job today. We had a good chance of going 2-0, but Arminia also defended it well. You saw what kind of career Edin had, he throws himself into it, that’s why we brought him in,” Karaman told the Sportschau.
And Arminia: Although they scored a goal (81st) through Grodowski, the shooter was just offside when Roberts Uldriķis headed the ball.
After that, the strong Bielefeld team tried everything, but Schalke somehow managed to win with the last of their strength.
Bielefeld has to play against Paderborn, Schalke against Hannover
Next Saturday (1 p.m.) Arminia Bielefeld welcomes SC Paderborn for the East Westphalia derby. The next day, Schalke will play another top game at home against Hannover 96 (1:30 p.m.).
Our sources:
- Sky live game Schalke 04 – Arminia Bielefeld
Broadcast: WDR.de“Schalke defeats Bielefeld – the audio highlights”, 8:44 p.m
