Fortuna Düsseldorf regained third place in the table with a win against Schalke in a furious game. Schalke delivered a remarkable comeback. Fortuna with coach Daniel Thioune defeated S04 5:3 (3:0).
A brace from Vincent Vermeij (13th and 26th) and a goal from Felix Klaus (19th) put the Düsseldorf team comfortably 3-0 ahead in the first 45 minutes. Schalke’s Marcin Kaminski shortened the score in the second period (57′). After Christos Tzolis increased the score to 4-1 for the hosts (65th), Düsseldorf thought they were on the winning track. But Tomáš Kalas (74th) and Bryan Lasme (75th) managed to catch up. In stoppage time, Jona Niemiec successfully completed a counterattack (90+4). It was Fortuna’s 900th goal in League Two.
Ferryman close to despair
Düsseldorf took control of the game from the start and pushed for the opening goal. It didn’t take too long for him to arrive. Nicolas Gavory used his space on the left and crossed perfectly to the completely unmarked Vermeij. When his header was placed, there was nothing for Ralf Fährmann to hold on to in the Schalke box.
Fährmann also had no chance at Düsseldorf’s second goal: via Gavory and Tzolis, the ball landed at the front of Klaus, who tipped the ball towards the goal with his pick as it fell. Derry Murkin made a deflection, but the ball was in.
With the third goal, the keeper was more of a focus, but was also a bit unlucky: a direct shot from Christos Tzolis after a wide cross from the right dripped from a greater height onto the crossbar on the left, with Fährmann having to make sure not to crash into the post. Vermeij quickly headed the rebounding ball from the five-yard box onto the goal and was lucky that Marcin Kamiński didn’t really hit the ball with his head on the line. Keeper Ferryman shouted his anger: “This is just unreal”could be read from his lips via TV.
During the first half: Geraerts changes three times
Dominick Drexler had to go out injured after a good half hour, S04 coach Karel Geraerts made two more changes and restructured his team, which now defended with a back four (instead of the previous three/five back line). With some success, as Fortuna didn’t score again until the half-time whistle.
On the contrary: Geraerts seemed to have found the right words for his players in the dressing room. After a corner, Bryan Lasme headed to Kaminski in the second period, who shot low with his left from around 14 meters. The ball hit the bottom right corner with a slight deflection.
After Schalke’s goal, Fortuna thinks about it
After an hour, Fortuna thought again and increased its offensive efforts again. First Klaus missed centrally, but then Düsseldorf struck again. The eye-catching Emanuel Iyoha penetrated Schalke’s half with a courageous tempo dribble, passed to Vermeij, who passed it on to the left to Tzolis. He received the ball in the penalty area, placed it on his right foot and shot well and hard into the right corner – Fährmann had no chance again.
Double strike brings S04 back into the game
And yet Schalke didn’t give up. And when Kalas and Lasme scored in quick succession, “Royal Blue” was back in the game. First Tobias Mohr served Kalas, who scored with his head. And Lasme prevailed with a fine individual performance when, following a long pass from Blendi Idrizi, he prevailed against two Düsseldorf players and, as he fell, tipped the ball into the goal. Memories of the legendary 4:4 at Borussia Dortmund on November 25, 2017 were brought back. At that time, Schalke had equalized a 0-4 deficit.
Suddenly the supporters of FC Schalke 04 could be heard again – and the home fans countered: a magnificent atmosphere in Düsseldorf. This seemed to spill over from Schalke’s perspective when Kenan Karaman shot hard from the edge of the penalty area, but Daniel Kastenmeier made a strong save. And a little later the home fans had their fifth shout of victory on their lips, but Vermeij was decisively disrupted on a counter-attack opportunity. Niemiec kept his nerve during a counterattack in stoppage time and made the final score.
Schalke against Osnabrück, Fortuna in Nuremberg
Schalke opens the 15th matchday with the game against VfL Osnabrück (Friday, December 1st, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.). A day later, Düsseldorf will face 1. FC Nürnberg away from home.