16th matchday
Compliments but no points: S04 loses in Frankfurt
Frankfurt’s Rafael Borre is happy after scoring 2-0 against FC Schalke 04. photo
© Thomas Frey/dpa
Schalke is hoping in vain for their third win of the season in Frankfurt. The guests even get a special compliment from the opponent’s trainer.
Eintracht Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner didn’t mean it ironically, but “to be honest”, as he emphasized after the 3-0 (1-0) win over the guests from Gelsenkirchen. “I would like to congratulate Schalke and Thomas Reis on a very good performance.” He couldn’t even elicit a smile from his colleague.
On the 16th matchday and at the start of the football year, the Royal Blues clearly missed their third win of the season and are still well behind at the bottom of the Bundesliga table.
“Of course it was a very, very bitter afternoon for us. I think you saw brutally today why we are down there and Eintracht is so high up,” said Schalke coach Reis after a courageous and long encouraging performance in front of 50,000 spectators.
Schalke tries, but Frankfurt hits
But while Simon Terodde and his team-mates were annoyed on several occasions, the often unsorted Frankfurt team scored at the crucial moments: first by World Cup participant Jesper Lindström (22nd minute), then by substitutes Rafael Borré and Aurélio Buta (84./ 90+1). Schalke are down to just nine points and will have to deal with another major setback before the next game against RB Leipzig on Tuesday.
In contrast, Eintracht climbed to second place in the table. A week before the summit at FC Bayern Munich, the Hessians reduced the gap to the leaders and champions to five points. At the same time, the Champions League round of 16 overtook the next opponent SC Freiburg – but none of those responsible were really satisfied, even if the supporters happily sang: “German champions – only the SBU!”
“I think we didn’t play well. The way it is not what we imagine,” said sporting director Markus Krösche. And Glasner said: “The victory today is certainly not deserved at this level.” Schalke “liked him almost better than what we showed”.
Urons: “Yes, that hurts, it really does”
The Finnish newcomer Jere Uronen first had to get used to this typical sense of frustration at Schalke 04. The 28-year-old bravely answered the questions after the final whistle and said in English: “We had really, really good actions. Yes, it hurts, it really does.”
The Royal Blues are now six points behind the relegation place with VfB Stuttgart. The Swiss attacker Michael Frey, who was loaned out by the Belgian first division club Royal Antwerp on Friday, was used for about 20 minutes for the number one relegation candidate, who was badly battered in terms of personnel and had not won any of his six friendlies in preparation, but was unable to do anything. Just as little as the convincing Soichiro Kozuki, who, like Terodde, missed many a chance.
Frankfurt remained unbeaten against Schalke in their eleventh home game in a row since March 2010. “I’m sure we want to do the league with everything we have,” said Frey, emphasizing: “Schalke is a huge club. I’ll give everything for Schalke.”