FC Schalke 04 has experienced its next defeat in the 2nd Bundesliga: The surprise newcomer SV Elversberg stole three points from Gelsenkirchen thanks to a sleepy Schalke defense at the start. The Saarland team won 2-1 (2-0) at Schalke and climbed to fifth place in the table. Schalke remains in 15th place for the time being.
A double strike from Elversberg shocked Schalke early on: Paul Stock gave Elversberg a quick lead (7th minute), passer Stock and goalscorer Jannik Rochelt exposed the hosts’ colossal defensive weaknesses in this phase (21st). But Schalke didn’t give up and only managed to score again through Kenan Karaman (35′).
Sluggish Schalke start
Schalke got off to a slow start in the opening game of matchday 15. The guests acted more powerfully from the start and, with Rochelt and Stock, appeared in the Schalke penalty area twice in the first four minutes.
Elversberg’s first goal came after a loss of the ball during a Schalke attack and a tactical foul by Derry Murkin. After the free kick, Manuel Feil played Stock, who, unchallenged, hit the ball flat into the goal from a central position of around 16 meters.
Schalke “stage design”
With the guests’ second goal, Schalke’s defensive midfield and then also the defense represented a kind of stage set for Stock and Rochelt: Stock moved from the right to the half-left, laid it up for the free-standing Rochelt, who shot the ball down to the right from the left corner of the penalty area hit the inside post and then into the home team’s goal. Justin Heekeren in the Schalke box – Ralf Fährmann had to miss the warm-up due to injury – was foaming with anger, but seemed to be able to wake up the people in front of him.
Because after the second goal, “Royal Blue” suddenly played in this game. Dominick Drexler missed with a long-range shot after a corner from Thomas Ouwejan (30th), then Karaman missed from a promising position (34th). After the next corner, however, Ouwejan found Karaman’s head at the five-point boundary, from where Schalke’s header made the connection.
Elversberg seeks salvation in Counter situations
After the break, the hosts pushed for an equalizer. Schalke’s Henning Matriciani went down after a challenge with Maurice Neubauer, referee Martin Petersen and his video assistant allowed play to continue. The game became tougher, Elversberg was waiting for counterattack situations. One of the few of them almost made it 3-1: Rochelt and Stock once again harmonized in the Elversberg attack. Heekeren let a shot from Stock bounce forward, but the rushing shooter came a little too late against the Schalke keeper who was following up (57′).
Then the next Schalke chance: Bryan Lasme was served on the right by Lino Tempelmann, shot from the right from a tight angle, but only hit the crossbar. From then on, Elversberg’s goalkeeper Kristof became more and more the focus because the hosts increased the pressure and the Saarlanders hardly had access to the ball.
The keeper showed his greatest saving act when Ouwejan Karaman again fed, whose well-placed header Kristof scratched out of the left corner (60th).
Geraerts brings in offensive power
Schalke coach Karel Geraerts made a change: Danny Latza came into the game, as did Simon Terodde and Keke Topp. The latter also took a shot on the move, which, however, deflected past the visitors’ goal. But now Elversberg showed up again, Vandermersch managed one of the few Elversberg shots in the second half of the game (80th). Schalke continued to press, but were unable to create many good chances to score. The eye-catching Karaman was also unlucky when the ball missed him due to space.
However, the game association never lost its nerve in the final phase and managed to maintain a narrow lead over time. Coach Horst Steffen and his team experienced the most successful phase in the history of the small club from Saarland.
“We had big plans, but we performed catastrophically in the first 30 minutes”said Karaman to the sports show after the game, “We had two wins under our belt and wanted to appear confident. But Elversberg caught us cold.”
Elversberg welcomes Paderborn, Schalke in Düsseldorf
On the 14th matchday, SV Elversberg will host SC Paderborn (Saturday, November 25th, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.). Schalke 04 is challenged in the evening game against Fortuna Düsseldorf (8.30 p.m.).