Tension in the relegation battle
FC Schalke draws new hope in the fight to stay in the class after a tour de force. Thanks to the acclaimed 2-1 (0-1) win over Werder Bremen, coach Thomas Reis’ team is still in a direct relegation zone as the penultimate, but is only one point behind in contact with the relegation zone.
In front of 61,981 spectators in the sold-out Veltins-Arena, substitute goalscorers Sepp van den Berg (82nd) and Dominick Drexler (90th + 2) ensured the much-needed success for Schalke on Saturday, who have more games against Mainz, FC Bayern, Frankfurt and Leipzig probably have the most difficult remaining program of all teams at risk. Marvin Ducksch (18th) provided the interim lead for Bremen.
The guests from Bremen left the Schalke stadium as losers after six wins in a row. Nevertheless, with 35 points now, they can go into the remaining games relatively carefree.
The victory of the previous table third bottom from Stuttgart a few hours earlier had put FC Schalke under a lot of pressure. “If you compare it to the boxer: we stagger – but we haven’t fallen yet. It’s important to keep getting up,” said coach Reis before kick-off. The task was made even more difficult by the fact that the football coach had to do without defensive stabilizer Moritz Jenz for a short time. The special circumstances made the hosts visibly difficult.
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Not least because of this, Bremen got off to a better start. A shot by Leonardo Bittencourt (6th) was cleared by Maya Yoshida, who had returned to the team after recovering from a muscle injury. Although Schalke gradually found their way into the game and narrowly missed the Werder goal when Kenan Karaman (12′) shot, they were still the weaker team in terms of play.
The opening goal was exemplary for the more creative game of the North Germans. Ducksch, released after passes by Maximilian Philipp and Mitchell Weiser, took the opportunity and scored his 12th goal of the season just a week after his three goals in the game at Hertha BSC. Because the injured Füllkrug has already scored 16 times, two Bremen players have scored 12 goals in a Bundesliga season for the first time since 2008/09.
The early deficit forced Schalke to take a braver stance. More and more they forced the opponent on the defensive, but hardly created any chances. Only when Simon Terodde’s header (34′) was parried by Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka was there a risk of scoring.
But at least the increasing pressure from the Bundesliga team, which had the weakest attacking hitherto, ensured that Werder hardly got any offensive action of their own. However, that was to change shortly before the break: Jens Stage’s player Jens Stage missed the great chance to make it 2-0 when he scored too hectically in front of the Schalke goal.
Even after the restart, Schalke continued to move forward. Despite all the zeal, however, it was initially too seldom that the Bremen defense really faced problems. And when that worked, Pavlenka was there. The keeper mastered shots from Marius Bülter (47th) and Rodrigo Zalazar (58th). Luck was on Bremen’s side when Tom Krauss hit the bar in the 64th minute. Schalke coach Reis wanted to force the turnaround with three changes in the 75th minute – and showed a lucky hand with the Jokers van den Berg, who celebrated his comeback after a long injury break, and Drexler.
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