SpVgg Greuther Fürth defied league leaders Schalke 04 with a deserved 1-1 draw in the 2nd Bundesliga and collected a point in the fight to stay in the league.
Dennis Srbeny gave the bottom team from Fürth the lead in the 12th minute. Dejan Ljubicic equalized for the “Royal Blues” in the 76th minute.
With the draw, Schalke avoided the threat of losing their lead in the table and remain at the top with 47 points, one point ahead of SC Paderborn.
The bottom of the table from Fürth collected another point after the win against Bielefeld and is on the safe side: With 23 points, the Fürth team is only two points behind Dresden in 13th place.
Fürth’s coach Heiko Vogel was “a little disappointed” about the draw in the Sportschau interview. “We wanted to get three points, and it was possible. We defended it well and made our points. The only criticism I can make to the team is that we didn’t take advantage of the counterattack opportunities and missed adding the second goal. In the end, we conceded a Sunday shot.”
Schalke started confidently and with high attack pressure. Fürth barely got over the halfway line at the start and kept losing the ball during the build-up to the game. Edin Dzeko almost took advantage of winning the ball to quickly take the lead, but his shot from a good 20 meters was cleared for a corner by Silas Prurock in the Fürth goal.
Srbeny uses Schalke blackout
Schalke radiated the presence of a league leader – until Fürth was able to break free for the first time and the Schalke defense was caught off guard: Hrgota was allowed to cross unhindered from the right wing line. Nikola Katic simply stood in the middle and overlooked the incoming Srbeny, who put the ball past Kevin Müller into the left corner.
Fürth was in the game after the opening goal, played on equal terms and fought successfully against it. It wasn’t until after 32 minutes that Schalke got dangerously close to the Fürth goal again: a free kick from Adil Aouchiche from the left wing flew through to the second post, Hasan Kurucay rushed in, but didn’t bring the ball into the box.
Five minutes later, Kenan Karaman had the next chance. Fürth’s keeper Scheckrock misjudged a cross, but Karaman couldn’t put the ball into the goal from close range. However, the goal should never have counted. Aouchiche was offside when the assist was made, and Karaman also had his arm on the ball.
Schalke continued to look vulnerable at the back; after a ricochet in the penalty area, the ball fell to Maximilian Dietz’s feet, but he missed from a tight angle.
Schalke with more pressure after the break
The bottom of the table’s lead lasted until the break. Schalke were challenged and increased the pressure: Ljubicic now joined the attack more often, received the ball from Dzeko in the penalty area after 53 minutes, but then went down very quickly in a duel with Reno Münz – referee Robert Kampka allowed play to continue. Three minutes later it was Ljubicic again who appeared free in front of the box, but came a step too late after Aouchiche’s cross. Things got even closer with Katic’s header from a corner, Schalke’s central defender put the ball past the left post from close range.
Schalke were almost punished for their usury of chances after almost 70 minutes: after a corner, Srbeny went down in a duel with Katic and the ball flipped over the line from Dzeko’s heel. The scene was examined in detail by the VAR, the final decision: Srbeny was extremely offside when the goal occurred.
Ljubicic’s stroke of genius to equalize
Five minutes later, Schalke scored, thanks to a stroke of genius from Ljubicic: the Austrian got a rebound perfectly at his feet and drove the ball directly under the crossbar from more than 25 meters away.
Saved Schalke in Fürth with a stroke of genius: Dejan Ljubicic
Schalke were closer to the winning goal in the final phase. Substitute Finn Porath had another great chance after the Fürth team failed to break free, but testrock was on the spot and prevented the deficit. There was a whopping seven minutes of added time, but the Fürth team managed to get the deserved draw over time.
Fürth in Hanover, Schalke against Bielefeld
Schalke continues on matchday 25 on Friday evening (6.30 p.m.) with a home game against Arminia Bielefeld. Fürth will play against the next promotion candidate, on Sunday afternoon (1:30 p.m.) at Hannover 96.
