Terodde brace seals a 2-0 win in Rostock

Fraisl debut in goal

Head coach Dimitrios Grammozis changed his goalkeeper for the game in Rostock. Martin Fraisl replaced Ralf Fährmann to make his competitive debut for the club. Dries Wouters took captain Victor Pálsson’s place in midfield, after he was sent off last time out against Karlsruher SC and is now banned for two games. The other alteration saw Mehmet Can Aydin come into the team for Darko Churlinov on the right-hand side.

Goalkeeper Michael Langer didn’t make the long trip up north. He unfortunately tore his ACL during a collision in training and will be out for several months. Marc Rzatkowski, who signed a deal until the end of the season a few days ago, also wasn’t involved. The midfielder instead featured for the U23s in their 1-1 draw against SV Straelen in the afternoon.

Terodde heads in from an Ouwejan cross

In a hard-fought match at the Ostseestadion, it took a while for the first notable moment of the game to come. Hanno Behrens’ left-footed strike just rose over the bar from the edge of the box (9’). This started a dangerous phase for the hosts, with Martin Fraisl getting his first chance to impress just two minutes later. Nik Omladic was played through by John Verhoek, however Fraisl made himself big to deny the shot. Verhoek then scuffed the rebound from a promising position.

Rostock had the ball in the net with a quarter of an hour played, although their celebrations were extremely short-lived. Bentley Baxter Bahn was clearly offside when he received the ball before scoring. Schalke’s first opportunity fell to Marius Bülter. His effort from around 18 yards out wasn’t enough to trouble Markus Kolke in the Rostock goal (18’). Despite enjoying more of the ball, the home team weren’t able to create any further clear-cut opportunities in the first period.

Somewhat against the run of the play, Schalke then took the lead on the stroke of half time. Marius Bülter flicked on Malick Thiaw’s diagonal pass to Thomas Ouwejan, and the left-back pinged in a cross to the near post. That was met by Simon Terodde, and he did what he does best: score! His header was the first goal in the new third kit and the only one in the first half.

Terodde scores again – and then hits the post

Schalke came out of the blocks with some real momentum after taking the lead late on in the first half. After around 30 seconds, Rodrigo Zalazar tested out Kolke with a dipping effort. The home goalkeeper couldn’t do anything about S04’s next chance though. A long ball from Dominick Drexler picked out Mehmet Can Aydin at the far post. He beat one man and then squared it across the box for Simon Terodde, and he duly hit the back of the net once again (49’).

The number nine very nearly had his first competitive hat-trick for the club soon after. This time, he headed a free-kick from Thomas Ouwejan onto the post (57’). Eight minutes later, Martin Fraisl was on hand to keep out a Behrens shot (65’). It then seemed like the hosts had a way back into the game, as referee Arne Aarnink pointed to the spot. He had adjudged Thomas Ouwejan to have handled the ball as he blocked a Meißner shot, however VAR intervened and showed that it actually hit him on the back, thus no penalty for Rostock.

Having survived that scare, Schalke continued to be the better side in the second period. Zalazar again let loose from range, this time really testing Kolke, who clawed out his low drive that was destined for the bottom corner (78’). At the other end, Fraisl still had to be on his toes. He made an important punch to clear a dangerous Duljevic free-kick which was heading for John Verhoek in a good position (81’). As S04 saw the game out, Marvin Pieringer had the final shot, narrowly missing the target from 18 yards out (86’).

At home against Ingolstadt

Up next for FC Schalke 04 is a home game against FC Ingolstadt on Sunday (3/10) at the VELTINS-Arena. Kick off is at 13:30 CEST.