Late KSC goal defeats ten-man Schalke

Drexler back in the starting XI

Head coach Dimitrios Grammozis made one change to the team that won 1-0 at Paderborn last Sunday. Dominick Drexler, who missed out that day due to a minor knee issue, replaced Florian Flick in midfield, making it the same XI that beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-1 in the last home game.

S04 go behind early on

The match couldn’t have begun any worse for the Royal Blues. In the first minute, Philip Heise’s corner went to the back post and found Kyoung-Rok Choi. His volley was enough to beat Ralf Fährmann to give Karlsruhe the lead. Schalke reacted well to this early shock, and could have had a free-kick in a dangerous position when KSC goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck appeared to handle the ball outside his box. The referee waved play on, however.

Terodde equalises

The VELTINS-Arena was rocking after a quarter of an hour played. Malick Thiaw played a long ball forward to Darko Churlinov. The ball bounced off his back to Philip Heise, who then lost out to Churlinov. He drove into the box, only to be disposed by Christoph Kobald. The ball then fortuitously fell to Simon Terodde and he buried it into the far corner for 150th goal in the 2. Bundesliga. Five minutes later, Terodde cleared the goal with an ambitious attempt on the spin (20’). Schalke, now enjoying their best spell of the first half, then had another dangerous moment. Churlinov cut inside and pulled the trigger on his left, with the effort almost reaching Dominick Drexler’s head.

The away team remained a threat, particularly on the break and from set pieces. Heise’s short free-kick found its way into the six-yard box, where Philipp Hofmann stuck his leg out to divert it on target. Fährmann was on hand to smartly parry it away (38’). The final chance in a somewhat chaotic first half was also for Hofmann, who headed wide (42’).

Kaminski header chalked off

Schalke were quick of the blocks in the second period – Darko Churlinov dribbled down the right and gave it back to Victor Pálsson. His shot, though, was blocked. 60 seconds later, further attempts from Rodrigo Zalazar and Malick Thiaw were denied by defenders, before Pálsson shot over (49’).

The majority of fans at the VELTINS-Arena were then celebrating again, albeit not for long. Thomas Ouwejan’s free-kick found Marcin Kaminski and he headed home what looked like S04’s second goal of the night. VAR showed that he was offside, however, and referee Christof Günsch chalked the goal off (50’).

Red card for Pálsson – Wanitzek wins it late on

Schalke were the more dominant side in the second 45 minutes and subsequently had more chances. Marius Bülter struck a wild effort over (60’), whilst Marius Gersbeck parried a stinging drive from Rodrigo Zalazar, gathering at the second attempt (67’).

In the 72nd minute, referee Günsch pulled out the red card for Schalke’s captain after Pálsson caught Marvin Wanitzek from behind. Karlsruhe, now with a man advantage, took control of the game, leaving Schalke clinging on to that point. With just two minutes left to hold on, Wanitzek unleashed a rocket from distance to find the back of the net and win it 2-1.

Saturday night in Rostock

Schalke’s next game is in the league away to Hansa Rostock. That match will take place on Saturday, 25th September at 20:30 CEST.