Bundesliga: Schalke 04 relinquishes last place to Hertha

Ferryman out injured

FC Schalke 04 deservedly won the relegation hit against Hertha BSC and gave up last place in the table to the Berliners, who were completely indisposed at times. The team of coach Thomas Reis defeated the capital city 5:2 (2:1). With the victory, Schalke jumped to the Bundesliga relegation spot at least overnight, but for the Berliners the situation in the close race to stay up in the league is becoming increasingly precarious.

The pressure on coach Sandro Schwarz is also increasing after the bitter defeat. His team went without a win for the sixth time in a row. In front of 61,981 spectators in the atmospheric Gelsenkirchen Arena, Tim Skarke (3rd), Marius Bülter (13th/78th), Simon Terodde (48th) and Marcin Kaminski (90th + 2) scored the goals for Schalke on Friday evening. Stevan Jovetic (45+3) and Marco Richter (84) scored for the guests.

Both coaches had expected a tough game and rather little football skill – and then Schalke started with a dream goal. Less than 180 seconds were played when Skarke took the ball and dribbled into the penalty area. The 26-year-old almost seemed to have lost his way, but he stuck with it and flicked the ball from around 17 meters to the lower edge of the crossbar. From there, the playground equipment jumped into the goal. For the winter loan from Hertha’s local rivals Union Berlin, it was the first Bundesliga goal of his career. Coach Reis enthusiastically stormed onto the pitch and threw both arms up. It got even better for the 49-year-old and his team: Dominick Drexler sent Skarke down the right flank, the goal scorer crossed to the center with pinpoint accuracy and there Bülter completed the goal with a header to make it 2-0.

Because Hertha also played forward despite the extremely unfortunate start, the spectators saw a very entertaining game. Berlin striker Jovetic had the goal on his foot, but Schalke keeper Ralf Fährmann deflected the ball with a class reflex to the post. The Gelsenkirchen fans cheered as if they had scored their own goal. Black, on the other hand, was visibly dissatisfied with his arms crossed in his coaching zone. He made his first change in the 26th minute. Former Schalke player Suat Serdar replaced Tolga Cigerci in midfield. Reis also swapped early – but involuntarily. Goalkeeper ferryman injured himself, Alexander Schwolow came for him.

Because of the long interruption to ferryman’s treatment, there were four minutes of stoppage time. Hertha took advantage of this: Jovetic, who was a newcomer to the starting XI, scored well into the corner. Schalke didn’t let that shock them. New substitute Kenan Karaman served Simon Terodde and the 35-year-old scored his fourth goal of the season in his first start-up since early February.

Sané in the top 10: most valuable players in the Bundesliga

30 Youssoufa Moukoko | Borussia Dortmund | €30 million

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28 Marcus Thuram | Borussia Monchengladbach | €32 million

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28 Evan Ndicka | Eintracht Frankfurt | Market value: €32 million

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23 Niklas Süle | Borussia Dortmund | €35 million

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23 Benjamin Pavard | Bayern Munich | €35 million

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23 Karim Adeyemi | Borussia Dortmund | €35 million

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23 Gregory Kobel | Borussia Dortmund | €35 million

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23 Jeremy Frimpong | Bayer Leverkusen | €35 million

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+€10m in March update

19 Dani Olmo | RB Leipzig | €40 million

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19 Julian Brandt | Borussia Dortmund | €40 million

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+€12m in March update

19 Nico Schlotterbeck | Borussia Dortmund | €40 million

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+€7m in March update

19 Dominik Szoboszlai | RB Leipzig | €40 million

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+€5m in March update

18 Sadio Mané | Bayern Munich | €45 million

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-€15m in March update

16 Lucas Hernández | Bayern Munich | €50 million

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16 Moussa Diaby | Bayer Leverkusen | €50 million

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15 Serge Gnabry | Bayern Munich | €55 million

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-€10m in March update

13 João Cancelo | Bayern Munich | €60 million

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-€10m in March update

13 Dayot Upamecano | Bayern Munich | €60 million

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10 Leon Goretzka | Bayern Munich | €65 million

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10 Kingsley Coman | Bayern Munich | €65 million

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+€5m in March update

10 Randal Kolo Muani | Eintracht Frankfurt | €65 million

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+€28m in March update

8 Leroy Sané | Bayern Munich | Market value: €70 million

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8 Alphonso Davies | Bayern Munich | €70 million

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6 Matthijs de Ligt | Bayern Munich | €75 million

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+€5m in March update

6 Josko Gvardiol | RB Leipzig | €75 million

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4 Joshua Kimmich | Bayern Munich | €80 million

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4 Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig | €80 million

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3 Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen | €85 million

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+€15m in March update

2 Yamal Musiala | Bayern Munich | €110 million

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+€10m in March update

1 Jew Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund | €120 million

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+€10m in March update

The hosts now had the match under control. The Berliners were hardly dangerous. Instead, Schalke went even further: The strong Bülter scored his second goal of the evening to make it 4-1. Richter reduced the penalty after a fine counterattack by Berlin, but unfortunately injured his eye and even bled – Henning Matriciani accidentally caught his finger when the ball was already in the net. Kaminski provided the final point, crowning a perfect evening from the perspective of the Royal Blues with a great free-kick goal to make it 5:2.

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