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In the home debut of new coach Manuel Baum, Schalke and “Hierro” separated with 1: 1. For “Knappen” it was the first victory on points after three defeats, but in all seasons the team has been 20 games. without winning. After all, Schalke gave the “Red Lantern” to Mainz 05.
“A step forward”
Marvin Friedrich put Urs Fischer’s visiting team ahead in the 55th minute of the game, while substitute Goncalo Paciencia (69) saved the tie for Schalke. “We are not in a good situation”said the Schalke striker on Sky: “It is a long road. Today we have a point, that is a step forward. We have to see the positive, we deserve the point.” Union goalkeeper Andreas Luthe said: “Right now it seems we have given away two points.”
Baum made six changes to his starting eleven compared to the game in Leipzig, also due to injury. Frederik Rönnow, Kilian Ludewig, Benito Raman, Vedad Ibisevic, Steven Skrzybski and Can Bozdogan played for Ralf Fährmann, Benjamin Stambouli, Alessandro Schöpf, Suat Serdar, Goncalo Pacienca and Mark Uth. For 20-year-old Ludewig, it was Schalke’s first competitive match and the debut of the Bundesliga. The Union Fischer coach decided in Luthe’s goal, access Loris Karius took a seat on the bench. Also, Joel Pohjanpalo was allowed to play in the storm early on.
Union one stronger at halftime
Both teams went to work in front of 300 spectators in Gelsenkirchen from the start. Many hard duels in midfield caused a lot of emotions, a lot of work for referee Patrick Ittrich. But it was more than 20 minutes until the first clear scoring opportunity, and Union had it three times. First Marius Bülter headed over the goal, then Schalke goalkeeper Rönnow initially parried a shot from Grischa Prömel from close range and later parried a distant shot from Robert Andrich.
Schalke pales on offense
As a result, Union took more and more command, Schalke tried hard but had little place on offense. Ibisevic’s only nominal tip hung in the air. In the 30th minute, Raman tried a long-range shot, but it was deflected. Otherwise, Schalke had no offensive solutions against balanced Berliners. The “Royal Blues” kept the “Iron” away from their own goal, which was probably the declared goal after conceding 15 goals in three games.
At the start of the second half, however, Rönnow was once again the center of attention, forcefully defusing a Christopher Lenz shot from close range in the 47th minute. Schalke still did not do better going forward. The uncertainty in the offensive game was noted in the “Knappen”. There was no automatism, the standards remained harmless.
Meet Friedrich and Patience
The Unioners patiently searched for their opportunities and got them. In the 55th minute, Christopher Trimmel put a cross to Marvin Friedrich’s head, who hit hard. Schalke had not been able to clear a corner far enough. Rönnow did not look very good when he conceded and would have preferred to stay in line.
Schalke reacted angrily, pressed. In the 68th minute Skrzybski missed goalkeeper Luthe, shortly after substitute Goncalo Paciencia did better, scoring 1: 1 after a corner kick into the nearby corner.
Schalke shows signs of life before the derby
With a wider chest, Baum’s team sought the way forward more consistently. In the 82nd minute, Christopher Trimmel deflected a shot from Omar Mascarell to a corner. But it was no longer enough for Schalke’s long-awaited victory. The 1: 1 was after all a sign of life after three breakdowns with 1:15 goals. For the Berliners it was the second consecutive away point after a 1-1 draw in Mönchengladbach. In the table, Union climbed to tenth place.
FC Schalke have to play the derby at Borussia Dortmund on the next match day, Union Berlin will await SC Freiburg at home.
