Late penalty robs Schalke of the win in Bremen

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Dimitrios Grammozis went with the same starting XI that lost at home to SV Darmstadt 98 two weeks ago. Marius Bülter and Simon Terodde began up front in the standard 3-5-2 system. Darko Churlinov was ruled out with a shoulder problem.

Terodde’s chip just wide

In front of a packed stadium, Werder started the game better under interim coach Danijel Zenkovic, who took over from Markus Anfang on the day of the game after he stepped down from his role. The first dangerous moment for either side came for the away side though. Marius Bülter was running through on goal, but before he could get a shot away, Ömer Toprak produced an important slide tackle to deny him (7’).

Four minutes later, Simon Terodde came extremely close to scoring the opening goal. With the ball at his feet just outside the area, he dinked it over goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka. The ball flew just past the far post.

Pálsson clearance off the line

In an intense and even first half, Schalke remained compact at the back and rarely allowed Werder chances. It took until the 21st minute for a Bremen opportunity. Marvin Ducksch’s delivery from the left found Christian Groß, who turned on it but couldn’t get his effort on target. 11 minutes after that chance, Victor Pálsson was on hand to deny SVW the lead. He cleared Niclas Füllkrug’s shot off the line after it had already beaten goalkeeper Martin Fraisl.

An increasingly hectic match saw few chances towards the end of the first half. Pálsson skied one from range (35’) and then SVW’s Anthony Jung put one wide from around 20 yards out (45’).

Bremen more dangerous

Schalke also had the first opportunity of the second half, this time through Terodde. He started the move by playing it wide to Marius Bülter, who then drove one towards the near post. Terodde slid in but Toprak blocked it wide for a corner (51’). After this, the home team were more threatening, creating some good chances for themselves. Some good work on the left from Romano Schmid resulted in Niclas Füllkrug clearing the bar with a half volley (58’). Three minutes afterwards, Schmid himself curled one over. Other moments included a Marvin Ducksch header from a Jean-Manuel Mbom cross which went wide.

Schalke improved as the second period went on, firstly with a long-range shot from Mehmet Can Aydin that almost caught Pavlenka out (66’). With 12 minutes left, Malick Thiaw headed a free-kick from Thomas Ouwejan past the post. In between these two chances, Ducksch struck a free-kick nicely over the wall and just narrowly wide (71’).

Record-breaking goal for Terodde – Füllkrug scores from the spot

The deadlock was finally broken in the 82nd minute by Schalke. Rodrigo Zalazar pulled the trigger from outside the box, Pavlenka could only punch his shot away from goal to Simon Terodde, and he headed home from close range. This was his 154th goal in the second division, meaning he is now the outright holder of the record.

That landmark goal wasn’t enough for the win though. Late in injury time, Tobias Stieler gave a penalty after consulting VAR. Henning Matriciani supposedly fouled Roger Assalé in the box. Niclas Füllkrug stepped up and stole a point for Werder in the ninth minute of added time.

Home game against SV Sandhausen

S04’s next match is at home to SV Sandhausen on Saturday (27/11) at 13:30 CEST.