Saturday 17th April 2021
Bad smack against Freiburg
FC Schalke can still disappoint
Last week, FC Schalke 04 celebrated their second win of the season, and there was even talk of hoping for a miracle relegation. A few days later the disillusionment follows. And it turns out to be disappointing after a season that was disastrous from start to finish.
SC Freiburg – FC Schalke 04 4: 0 (2: 0)
The faint hopes of FC Schalke 04 for a possible turnaround in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga have been severely dampened. The knocked-down bottom of the table lost on Saturday deservedly 0: 4 (0: 2) at SC Freiburg and can hardly be saved from the impending crash into the second division. Lucas Höler (7th minute), Roland Sallai (22nd / foul penalty) and Christian Günter (50 / 74th) scored for the Breisgauer. The Gelsenkirchen team, who celebrated their first win in more than three months against FC Augsburg (1-0) last week, are still 13 points behind relegation place 16 – with only five games left.
The Freiburg, who had lost four of their previous five games, at least kept their small chance of participating in the European Cup. Right from the kick-off, in front of national coach Joachim Löw in the stands, the hosts tried to curb the little bit of euphoria that Schalke had taken with them from the previous week – and they succeeded. The Baden dominated and did not allow a Schalke shot on goal in the first half. When they hit, they also benefited from the guests’ mistakes. The early 1-0 was preceded by a miserable attempt at clarification by Schalke’s defender Benjamin Stambouli. Baptiste Santamaria took advantage of the space on the right and gave the ball sharply inside, Höler sank at the second post. About a quarter of an hour later, the Royal Blues’ hope for a storm, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, ran out his arm against Sallai in his own penalty area.
Referee Tobias Reichel looked at the scene again after a hint from the video assistant and decided on a penalty – Sallai hit flat and in the middle to make it 2-0. After further chances by Freiburg’s Hungarian top scorers (8 goals this season) and Ermedin Demirovic, the extremely weak Schalke were at least once up front. A dribble by Amine Harit was interrupted by the referee because of another foul by Huntelaar (35th). With the 3-0 win shortly after the break, the one-sided game was already decided. After the Schalke player Suat Serdar lost the ball, Sallai served Günter – and the captain shot into the lower right corner. It was already the 74th goal conceded for Schalke this season.
Goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann barely prevented number 75 when he steered a free kick from Jonathan Schmid over the bar (55th). But when Günter shot another shot, the goalkeeper was powerless. From a good 20 meters, Freiburg’s defender chased the ball up into the right corner and tied up the double pack. Schalke, who have not won 25 league games away, remained largely harmless in the second half.
FC Augsburg – Arminia Bielefeld 0-0
In a largely unsightly duel, FC Augsburg and Arminia Bielefeld missed trend-setting successes in the fight against relegation. After a goalless draw, the Armines left the relegation rank on Saturday, but as 16th they are only one point ahead of Hertha, who were free from play due to a corona outbreak. With a home win, the FCA would have been very close to being rescued. After five wins in all five games against Bielefeld, coach Heiko Herrlich’s team did not earn the three points. The Swabians stay six points ahead of the East Westphalia.
1. FC Union Berlin – VfB Stuttgart 2: 1 (2: 0)
With the first victory in its club history against VfB Stuttgart, 1. FC Union Berlin has confirmed the European course courageously proclaimed by coach Urs Fischer. Grischa Prömel (20th minute) and Petar Musa (43rd) with his first goal secured the iron in the stadium An der Alten Försterei the 2-1 (2-0) success. With 43 points, Union defended seventh place in the table, which could qualify for participation in the new Conference League at the end of the season.
Against VfB Union had made clear the promotion to the Bundesliga with two draws (2: 2/0: 0) in the relegation 2019, but so far it has never been enough to win against the Swabians. Despite the goal by Philipp Förster (48th), Stuttgart were reminded of the bitter relegation in the same place with the defeat and are now four points behind Union and the international zone after the 29th match day.
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