3rd match day
Two strong goalkeepers and Terodde with bad luck from penalties
Schalke’s Simon Terodde (l) fails with two attempts from the penalty spot at Wolfsburg’s goalkeeper Koen Casteels (M). photo
© Swen Pförtner/dpa
Two goalkeepers are the winners of the goalless draw between Wolfsburg and Schalke. Guest coach Frank Kramer praises Alexander Schwolow. S04 attacker Simon Terodde is the tragic figure of the game.
Goalkeepers often emerge victorious and attackers lose in 0-0 games. The Bundesliga game between VfL Wolfsburg and Schalke confirmed this football wisdom.
The two-time penalty hero Koen Casteels on the one hand and Alexander Schwolow on the other hand, who has recently been criticized, each showed a strong performance.
“We had a very good goalkeeper. That was also criticized by one or the other. I think he played an outstanding game today,” said Schalke coach Frank Kramer after the match and VfL coach Niko Kovac added: “Frank says Even if the goalkeeper is praised, then I must also praise ours, because Koen did very well twice.”
Casteels wins the duel with Terodde
The focus of the zero result was the duel between goalscorer Simon Terodde and Casteels. The Schalke attacker missed two penalties (45th minute) and missed an opportunity to take a shot before the end of the first half. “The goalkeeper saved twice. Of course I can shoot them better,” admitted the 34-year-old after the game.
As a veteran, he also wanted to take the second penalty: “The team trusts me,” he said, “that would have been a bad sign to say: “I’m giving up responsibility.”
Shortly before the half-time break, referee Felix Zwayer decided on a penalty after viewing the video evidence. With a clever move by top scorer Terodde, Schalke, who hadn’t been the better team before, undeservedly brought themselves back into the game. The attacker had sneaked up on VfL defender Micky van de Ven in the penalty area, who wanted to clear the ball and instead hit Terodde’s foot.
26,959 spectators then saw a curious spectacle: Casteels parried the first penalty kick by Terodde, and the S04 attacker missed the resulting chance to make an additional shot.
Since Casteels had both feet in front of the line when he shot, Zwayer had the penalty repeated – but Terodde chose the same corner and failed again at the strong Belgian. “It was bitter, but I would do it again and again,” Terodde said of his approach to the second penalty.
Wolfsburg and Schalke still without a win
Casteels, described by his coach as “the best penalty killer in the league”, has a record of 14 saved penalties out of 39 in the league. “I’d rather have that record than any other,” said Casteels. He added: “If you think about it, it’s sad that we didn’t score and that it ended 0-0.”
A lead for the home side would have been highly deserved after strong sections by VfL in both halves. A goal by Josuha Guilavogui (66th) was disallowed for offside by the video assistant. The hosts were usually more greedy in duels, while the Gelsenkirchen team struggled with problems in their own game structure.
Wolfsburg and Schalke remain without a win after the third matchday and both have two points in the table. “We’re happy to take the partial success with us,” said Schalke coach Kramer. “We put in a compact, passionate performance.” Kovac, on the other hand, summed it up a bit: “We have to live with the point, but we would have deserved three today.”