Schalke 04 took the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga with a win in the top game against SC Paderborn.
The Gelsenkirchen team won 2-1 (1-1) at the start of the 14th matchday on Friday evening and are now two points ahead of the SCP at the top of the table. In front of 62,077 spectators, Laurin Curda (38th) gave the guests the lead. Kenan Karaman equalized for Schalke in stoppage time in the first half (45+3). Shortly before the end, substitute Bryan Lasme scored the victory for Schalke (86th).
Schalke without Gantenbein for the time being
Schalke competed without Adrian Gantenbein, who, according to the club, is out until further notice with a calf injury. Vitalie Becker replaced him in the starting line-up. Christopher Antwi-Adjei also moved into the starting lineup for Finn Porath. Paderborn coach Ralf Kettemann made only one change after the 2-0 loss against Hannover: Calvin Brackelmann played in place of Sebastian Klaas.
Both fan camps once again took part in the nationwide fan protests, which is why it was eerily quiet in the arena for the first twelve minutes. Ron Schallenberg scored Schalke’s first opportunity against his former club with a header past the goal (5th).
Penalty taken back, Curda heads SCP into the lead
In the 8th minute, Moussa Sylla was on the way to the goal after a quickly taken free kick and went down in a duel with Brackelmann. Referee Tobias Reichel immediately pointed to the penalty spot, but according to the video images, corrected himself to a free kick because the decisive contact was probably still slightly outside the box. The fan protest was over by the time it was taken, but the cheering that was now present couldn’t make Karaman’s free kick any more dangerous (14th). What was more worth seeing was the choreography by the Schalke fans for 150 years of Gelsenkirchen.
After the long break, the momentum of the opening minutes was gone. For a long time very little happened in front of both goals, instead the action mainly took place in the midfield with minor and major fouls. Nikola Katic almost gave the SCP the lead with a failed back pass to Loris Karius, but the Schalke keeper reacted quickly and deflected the ball with the tip of his foot (37th). A minute later the goal actually came: Curda headed a cross from Raphael Obermair and scored from eight meters to make it 1-0 for the guests.
Karaman equalizes for Schalke
Due to the long break during the penalty check, there were seven minutes of added time at the end of the first half. Schalke tried to score an equalizer, but were unable to create any clear scoring chances for a long time against their strong defending guests. It only became dangerous during one of Schalke’s few counterattacks. Sylla put Karaman in the spotlight and he scored with a powerful shot from 13 meters to make it 1-1 (45th + 3).
The second half began with a good header opportunity from Brackelmann after a Paderborn corner (47′). The game wasn’t a footballing treat even after the break. Schalke now became stronger and within a short time had chances for Sylla (54th) and Antwi-Adjei (55th), who either missed the goal or were denied by SCP goalkeeper Dennis Seimen.
Sylla’s goal doesn’t count, Joker Lasme scores
Kettemann reacted to Schalke’s growing strength and brought in two new players, Klaas and Michel, to strengthen the offensive. Shortly after the substitution, the ball was initially back in the Paderborn goal, but Sylla had started offside before his goal. The goal initially counted, but was then conceded by the video referee (63′). On the other hand, Michel aimed clearly too high on his first shot (65th).
At Schalke, another striker, Bryan Lasme, came in for Antwi-Adjei (67th). The new man introduced himself in the 70th minute with a shot from a tight angle, which Seimen just parried with his foot. After a short period of pressure from Schalke, the balance of power equalized again. The two goal scorers Curda and Karaman had a verbal dispute in the 83rd minute, at the end of which both players were shown yellow cards. It was Curda’s fifth warning and he is therefore banned from the next game.
When there was no longer much to suggest a goal, Schalke struck again. After winning the ball in the Paderborn half, Karaman sent Lasme on his way and he finished with a lob over Seimen to make it 2-1 (86th). Again there were seven minutes of added time. Paderborn didn’t have more than one chance for substitute Stefano Marino (90+6).
Schalke visits Düsseldorf
Schalke will continue next week with another Friday evening game against a NRW competitor. At 6.30 p.m. the Gelsenkirchen team will be guests at Fortuna Düsseldorf. SC Paderborn welcomes SV Elversberg one day later at 1 p.m.
