With the courage of desperation, Schalke 04 landed a liberation in the fight to stay up and left the direct relegation places for the first time in six months. In the meantime, the coach is wobbling with the opponent.
The Royal Blues prevailed in the hard-fought basement duel against Hertha BSC 5: 2 (2: 1), gave the Red Lantern to the Berliners and climbed to 16th place for the first time since the beginning of October.
“There was a lot at stake, the pressure was great, but we withstood it. We had good control of the game, that gave us security,” said Schalke’s double packer Marius Bülter DAZN. The victory gives “self-confidence, but we know that we haven’t achieved anything yet.”
Tim Skarke (3rd), Bülter (13th, 78th), Simon Terodde (48th) and Marcin Kaminski (90th + 2) scored the goals for the Gelsenkirchen team, who after two defeats with 0:5 goals with their backs stood against the wall. VfB Stuttgart could overtake Borussia Dortmund again with a point win on Saturday (3:30 p.m. / Sky). Stevan Jovetic (45′ + 3′) and Marco Richter (84′) scored for Hertha, who were particularly weak on the defensive. After the sixth game in a row without a win, the first relegation of the Berliners in eleven years is getting closer.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Weber avoided a job guarantee for coach Sandro Schwarz. “We’ll go home now, analyze it, of course, talk to everyone, but of course we’ll turn every stone now,” said the BSC sports director DAZN: “We are brutally disappointed and will get a real kick in the face over the next few days.”
Hertha BSC: “Wrong moment” for discussion about Sandro Schwarz
“Now is the wrong moment to start a personnel discussion,” Weber explained. Schwarz himself took the statements with composure. “I’m part of the group and I’m mainly responsible for it. I’m responsible, we’re 18th in the table. It’s completely legitimate for Benjamin Weber to say that.”
He wanted to “let it sink in and sleep on it for a night,” said Schwarz: “Then it’s time to analyze what we didn’t do well.” Even without distance to the game, it was clear to the coach: “The defensive behavior broke our necks. There were far too many mistakes that were punished immediately.”
Meanwhile, Weber repeatedly emphasized that there was a “clear” approach without defining it in more detail. “We’ve had so many changes, we need rest at the club,” he said. This is much easier with sporting success.
For Hertha’s defender Marvin Plattenhardt it was “not a performance in many areas”, he grumbled: “We weren’t there in the duels, we had defensive mistakes and problems”. The fact that his team conceded five goals from Schalke was “incredible”.
Bundesliga: The table situation in the relegation battle
Schalke – Hertha: S04 mercilessly effective
Schalke coach Thomas Reis had changed his team to five positions after the 2-0 defeat at TSG Hoffenheim: Among other things, defensive stabilizer Moritz Jenz, with whom the Royal Blues had not yet lost, returned after thigh problems, second division record scorer Terodde was there for the first time Back in the starting XI for more than two months, captain Danny Latza surprisingly replaced U21 national player Tom Krauss in the six. Defense chief Maya Yoshida was also out. Hertha coach Schwarz only made two changes compared to the 0-1 draw against RB Leipzig: Richter started on the right flank, Jovetic as the second striker.
After exactly one minute, the air was already out – the ball had to be replaced, record-breakingly early. The new ball was in the goal a minute and a half later: Skarke hit the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area – his first goal for the Royal Blues. Driven by ex-Schalke Kevin-Prince Boateng, who quickly carried the ball to the kick-off point, Hertha responded with furious attacks.
But Schalke was mercilessly effective: After a measured cross from Skarke, Bülter headed in to make it 2-0. On the other side, Jovetic was denied by goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, who deflected the ball to the post (22′). But the hosts fought for an advantage, the Hertha defense wobbled alarmingly. Schwarz reacted and replaced Tolga Cigerci for ex-Schalke Suat Serdar after just 25 minutes. But initially little changed: Dominick Drexler missed the possible 3-0 with a header (32nd).
Then Fährmann had to leave the field with a thigh injury – and Hertha loaned Alexander Schwolow back between the Schalke posts for the first time in the second half of the season (36th). The first shot was right there: Jovetic hit the corner.
The noise level rose after the break as Terodde scored his first goal in over five months. The promotion hero, who had announced his departure for the season, scored after assisting substitute Kenan Karaman. Kaminski finished the game with a remarkable free kick.
Schalke 04 – Hertha BSC: The voices
Thomas Reis (Schalke 04 coach): “We came on very well in both halves, the two early goals helped us a lot. The pressure was immense, I wanted to spread it over several shoulders. The team invested a lot, it’s very important to keep the three points here .”
Sandro Schwarz (Hertha BSC coach): “We simply defended far too badly overall, and the goals we conceded were largely to blame for our tackle behavior. We always had phases where it was our turn, but we deserved to lose.”
Schalke 04 – Hertha BSC: The data for the game
Schalke: Ferryman (36th Schwolow) – Brunner (71st Uronen), Jenz, Kaminski, Matriciani – Latza, Kral – Skarke (46th Karaman), Drexler (65th Krauss), Bülter – Terodde. – Trainer: Rice
Berlin: Christensen – Uremovic, Kempf, Dardai (55. Ngankam) – Richter, Cigerci (26. Serdar), Plattenhardt – Tousart, Kevin-Prince Boateng (62. Kanga) – Lukebakio, Jovetic. – Trainer: Schwarz
Referee: dr Felix Brych (Munich)
Tore: 1:0 Skarke (3.), 2:0 Bülter (13.), 2:1 Jovetic (45.+3), 3:1 Terodde (48.), 4:1 Bülter (78.), 4:2 Richter (84.), 5:2 Kaminski (90.+2)
Viewers: 61,981 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Krauß (5), Jenz (4) – Kevin-Prince Boateng (3), Ngankam (4), Uremovic (5)
