What, just three minutes? Thomas Reis and his assistant Marcus Gellhaus couldn’t believe it when the fourth referee brought out the stoppage time board. Gestures of horror and incomprehension followed. Three minutes was far too little for the Schalke head coach and his assistant, who demanded more leeway to score that one goal that their team had been trying to score with zeal and even more zeal during the second half. But would Schalke have scored another goal if the game had been extended to the Tagesschau?
It was not due to a lack of effort that the bottom of the table did not get more than 0-0 in the duel with 1. FC Köln, which changed the account balance insignificantly and rather insufficiently. The problem was a lack of cleverness in the penalty area and therefore a goal threat. The 18th matchday provided Schalke with an assist after all of their rivals had lost in the relegation battle, but the assist remained unused: only Cologne, who were frugal this time, were satisfied with the point. At least the hard core of the Schalke supporters didn’t show their disappointment. When the players stepped in front of the north stand, they received warm applause and an undeterred battle cry from thousands of throats: “Let’s go Schalke, fight and win”.
The spectators had to doubt their willingness to fight at the painful 1: 6 against Leipzig on Tuesday evening, this time there was no reason for it. Schalke fought from the first to the last minute for every useless ball, that was enough for reconciliation for the time being. He had “seen insane duels,” said Thomas Reis and said that appreciatively: “I’m glad that the team at least worked hard.” His colleague Steffen Baumgart said he was not surprised that FC rarely found their way into attack and mainly got stuck in defense during the second half: “We weren’t the better team, but we didn’t expect that either. It was a duel on eye level.” The Cologne coach gave a realistic assessment of the quality of the game: “90 minutes of a complete relegation battle.”
Kozuki and Zalazar aren’t precise enough in the ending
Schalke signed defender Moritz Jenz, 23, on Thursday until further notice so that they could enter the competition for remaining in the league as an outsider. Born in Berlin, he previously worked for Celtic Glasgow and played regularly there, including the Champions League, but had to vacate his position due to the return of injured regulars. On Sunday, Jenz was in the starting line-up instead of the recently overwhelmed Henning Matriciani and made a remarkably experienced and calm impression.
Thanks to his help, the defensive line was more stable, which, in addition to the neighbor Maya Yoshida, also benefited the new goalkeeper, who is an old acquaintance: Ralf Fährmann, 34, celebrated his 27th comeback in the Schalke goal, he was preferred to Alexander Schwolow, who rotated to the bench despite having done a decent job lately. Ferryman secured his post perfectly, but the requirements remained manageable.
The Schalke game improved in the second half, mainly due to the return of Rodrigo Zalazar and Alex Kral. Their playing skills gave Schalke, who until then had been working wildly but haphazardly attacking, moments with a goal threat. Soichiro Kozuki and Zalazar had their chances but missed the precise finish. “In the situation we’re in right now, we can use every point – but we have to win,” Fährmann summarized the discrepancy at 0-0. Schalke gave a sign of life, but is it enough to survive? There is still an overtime of 16 matchdays.