Schalke 04 has returned to the Bundesliga 382 days after relegation. The leaders of the second division defeated FC St. Pauli 3:2 (0:2) after trailing 0:2 and can no longer be ousted from one of the first two places on the last day of the game. Scorer Simon Terodde with his season goals 28 and 29 (47th, penalty kick/71st) and joker Rodrigo Zalazar (78th) shot the Royal Blues back to the top flight in front of 62,271 spectators in the sold-out Veltins Arena for the fourth time after 1982, 1984 and 1991 – for the third time after just one second division season. On April 20, 2021, the royal blues sealed their fourth relegation with a 0-1 draw at Arminia Bielefeld.
Igor Matanovic (9th and 17th) initially gave Hamburg the lead with a brace. After the sixth game in a row without a win, the chances of promotion for St. Pauli, a month ago still at the top, are only theoretical. Marcel Beifus also saw the red card for a serious foul (81′), Matanovic was sent off with a yellow card (90’+5′).
The Royal Blues had already celebrated before the kick-off: their Eurofighters, which sensationally won the Uefa Cup 25 years ago and made the greatest success in the club’s history perfect. The team around coach of the century Huub Stevens met on the lawn for the anniversary, the fans sang about the legendary journey through Europe. Büskens, himself part of the 1997 squad, has been busy with the current Schalke. The 54-year-old switched to two positions compared to the emotional 2-1 win in Sandhausen and brought Thomas Ouwejan and Dominick Drexler back into the starting XI. His opponent Timo Schultz had to replace half a dozen players after the Corona outbreak last Sunday.
The two coaches almost saw the first goal after 32 seconds, but Terodde failed to save Dennis Smarsch. St. Pauli’s keeper also saved against Marius Bülter (5th). On the other hand, the first shot was a hit: Matanovic completed the first, largely undisturbed Hamburg attack with the lead. Schalke goalkeeper Martin Fraisl gave the guests the 2-0: The keeper, who had recently been noticed repeatedly with dropouts, made a catastrophic bad pass in the build-up of the game, which Matanovic used. Schalke responded and celebrated – too early: Ko Itakura’s supposed equalizer was preceded by a handball by the Japanese (23′). Then Terodde shot defender Jakov Medic on the goal line from two meters (33′).
Only a few seconds after the restart, Medic Terodde tore in the penalty area, the second division record scorer scored from the penalty spot. After that, Schalke, driven by the fans, stormed with the courage of desperation. Terodde used a template from Darko Churlinov to his 171st second division goal. Zalazar finally turned the arena into a madhouse.