S04 defeat Dresden to record a fourth straight win

Ranftl and Mikhailov both start – Latza and Idrizi make the bench

Eight days after the 1-0 win in Hannover, head coach Dimitrios Grammozis made two changes to his starting XI. Yaroslav Mikhailov replaced the injured Dominick Drexler after he suffered a laceration during the game on the last matchday. The other new face in the team was Reinhold Ranftl, who came in for Mehmet Can Aydin. The youngster picked up a muscle injury last Friday, although he was fit enough for a place on the bench.

He was joined by two players that had been out injured recently. Danny Latza had been missing with an MCL injury he picked up on the opening matchday against Hamburger SV. The other returnee was midfielder Blendi Idrizi, who had been sidelined with a knee injury.

Bülter with Schalke’s first chance

In an intense and scrappy opening period, the away team had the first chance of the game. From a throw-in on the left, the ball came to Christoph Daferner, who profited from a Ko Itakura slip. His shot from around 20 yards was easily saved by Martin Fraisl though (11’). Two minutes later, Malick Thiaw blocked an effort from Heinz Mörschel with a slide tackle.

It took Schalke exactly 15 minutes to have their first promising attack. Marius Bülter headed a long ball to Simon Terodde, and he then played a lovely through ball to his strike partner. Bülter’s shot, however, was fairly wayward.

Ouwejan with a freak goal

As Schalke put their foot on the gas, they came really close to breaking the deadlock. Rodrigo Zalazar’s low drive smashed the post after a pass from Terodde (20’). The vociferous home support didn’t have to wait long for a goal to celebrate though. In the same minute, Dresden goalkeeper Kevin Broll parried a Reinhold Ranftl cross and that landed at Robin Becker’s feet. The Dynamo defender’s clearance was then chased down by Thomas Ouwejan and the ball pinged into the bottom corner for 1-0!

The remainder of the first half was even, with the away team enjoying the better chances. Firstly, Heinz Mörschel had a shot fly past the far post from distance (23’), before Morris Schröter did well to get a shot away in the box, albeit he couldn’t hit the target (31’). Their other opportunity was for Yannick Stark, who tested out Fraisl from outside the box (43’). At the other end, Yaroslav Mikhailov dragged a shot wide (26’) and Reinhold Ranftl cleared the bar (40’).

Terodde and Mikhailov miss chances for 2-0

Schalke came out of the blocks positively and had two good chances at the start of the second half. Less than two minutes after the break, Marius Bülter cut it back to Terodde after some good work. S04’s top goalscorer hit it low, but not with enough pace on it to beat Broll. Shortly afterwards, Yaroslav Mikhailov had a golden chance. He was played in behind by Rodrigo Zalazar, and was one-on-one against Kevin Broll. Unfortunately, he couldn’t beat the goalkeeper with his effort (50’).

After Broll denied Bülter, Schalke had Martin Fraisl to thank for keeping their lead. He brilliantly tipped over a header from substitute Pascal Hohm which was destined for the top corner (63’). The Austrian was again on song seven minutes later, parrying Christoph Daferner’s shot. In between these chances, captain Danny Latza made his return, coming on for Yaroslav Mikhailov (65’).

Bülter and Kaminski head home

In the 78th minute, S04 doubled their advantage. Thomas Ouwejan whipped in a corner and that found Marius Bülter at the front post. He flicked it towards the far corner for his fourth league goal of the season.

As time ran out for Dresden, Sebastian Mai unleashed a powerful half-volley that flashed past Fraisl’s far post (90’). Simon Terodde had an opportunity for his now almost customary goal, but couldn’t get his head on the end of a Marvin Pieringer cross (93’). Nonetheless, Grammozis’ men still found a third goal. Another Ouwejan set-piece, this time a free-kick, was met by Marcin Kaminski and he headed past Broll for his second goal in as many games (94’).

Busy week coming up

The games are coming thick and fast for S04 at the moment. Next up is a trip to Munich to play TSV 1860 München on Tuesday (26/10) in the second round of the DFB-Pokal at 18:30 CEST. Just three days later, the Royal Blues are on the road again, this time taking on 1. FC Heidenheim in the league (18:30 CEST).