FC Schalke 04 has once again won a football game in the 2nd Bundesliga after four previous defeats. The 3:2 (1:0) against Hannover 96 dealt the Lower Saxony team a setback in the promotion race.
In his home debut, Schalke’s new coach Karel Geraerts achieved an extremely important victory in the relegation battle after a 3-0 defeat at Karlsruher SC a week earlier.
Bryan Lasme (42nd), Lino Tempelmann (72nd) and Kenan Karaman (77th) scored the goals for the relegated team, which reduced the gap to a safe place. For Hannover, who missed out on a promotion place, Enzo Leopold scored the equalizer (52′) and Marcel Halstenberg scored a late goal from the penalty spot (90′).
Sold out arena
Despite Schalke’s difficult time and poor results (previously), the Gelsenkirchen Arena was sold out. More than 62,000 spectators saw a committed initial phase from the “Royal Blues”, who also had their first chance. Hanover’s goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler blocked Lasme’s shot from close range (8th).
As a result, the Lower Saxony team then dominated the game. After a corner kick, Marcel Halstenberg came free to head the ball from about seven meters, but put it well next to the goal (18th). Two minutes later, in the second game after his return to the Schalke goal, Ralf Fährmann fended off a shot from Cedric Teuchert, who played for Gelsenkirchen in the 2018/19 season.
Lasme with force to make it 1-0
When Fabian Kunze took a long-range shot, Fährmann had no chance of defending, but since there had been a foul on Tempelmann beforehand, the goal did not count (30th).
Schalke made the game more balanced again in the last minutes before the break and took the lead. The ball fell to Lasme’s foot after an aerial duel in front of him, with which he powerfully scored to make it 1-0 (42′).
Leopold scores after Schalke’s chain of errors
Schalke’s defense was quite stable in the first half. This should only be the case for a few minutes in the second half. After a chain of errors, Hannover’s Leopold had a free shot from eleven meters and hit it low next to the right post to make it 1-1 (52′).
Coach Stefan Leitl’s team then pushed for another goal and had further chances, but were caught cold. A long-range shot from Tempelmann, which Zieler saw late, found its way into the net (72nd), Karaman made it 3-1 and ensured an even better atmosphere in the arena.
However, there was still a bit of trembling, because Halstenberg reduced the score to 2:3 (90th) after a penalty given by Fährmann to Andreas Voglsammer.
Schalke in Nuremberg, Hanover against Braunschweig
FC Schalke 04 will compete against 1. FC Nürnberg next matchday in the duel between the old champions (Saturday, November 4th, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.). One day later, Hannover 96 welcomes Eintracht Braunschweig (1:30 p.m.) for an explosive derby.