As of: 02/25/2023 9:31 p.m
Goalless series ended: FC Schalke 04 clinched an important victory against VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and thus sent a sign of life in the relegation battle.
The knot has burst: After four goalless draws in a row, Dominick Drexler (10th) and Marius Bülter (40th) decided the relegation peak in favor of the “Royal Blues” with their goals in a 2-1 victory. Borna Sosa (63rd) could only shorten for Stuttgart. For Schalke it was the first win since November 9, 2022.
With 16 points now, the “miners” have managed to catch up. Only three points are missing on the relegation place 16. There is 1899 Hoffenheim, Stuttgart is tied in 15th place. On the next match day Schalke could even hand over the “Red Lantern” to the Ruhr rivals with a win at VfL Bochum. Stuttgart then receives FC Bayern Munich.
Schalke without a trained full-back
Schalke started with two central defenders on the full-back positions. In view of some injuries, coach Thomas Reis was forced to make changes. Henning Matriciani and Mehmet Aydin started against Stuttgart for the injured full-backs Cedric Brunner and Jere Uronen.
The team showed from the start that they really want to win this game. The long-awaited goal came in the tenth minute. Matriciani extended a kick from goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann on the left into Michael Frey’s run. The 28-year-old took off, his cross landed five meters from the box exactly at Drexler. He just had to head in from a short distance.
Bülter hits with a hoe
VfB Stuttgart couldn’t think of much in the first half against strong Schalke, the offensive actions were half-hearted and lacked any punch. Consequently it was 2:0, and that was worth seeing. On the right Rodrigo Zalazar asserted himself nicely and passed the ball low in the middle. There Bülter put him in the far corner with his heel from a half-right position, eight yards out.
In the second half, the Swabians started much more powerfully, but Schalke initially survived the storm and stress phase unscathed. So Fährmann had to stretch a lot in the 51st minute to defuse a shot by Borna Sosa.
Ferryman slips up
Twelve minutes later, that didn’t work. Because then Fährmann let a rather harmless shot from Sosa slip through his legs and VfB was suddenly back in the game. Shortly thereafter, coach Bruno Labbadia’s side almost equalized, but Wataru Endo’s header was denied by Fährmann and Silas’s second try went over the goal.
The final phase became a defensive battle for Schalke, and isolated counterattacks fizzled out. But Stuttgart didn’t come decisively in front of the goal anymore.
Those: sportschau.de
