Wednesday May 12, 2021
Relegation now within reach
Joker saves Hertha against Schalke’s last eleven
After three corona cases in the squad, FC Schalke have to do without seven players – and still annoy Hertha BSC. A joker gives the Berliners relief in the fight against relegation. In the end there is first tremor and then once again new negative records for Royal Blue.
Hertha BSC has won the “bonus game” and has the main prize in the battle for relegation close in hand. In their last catch-up game at the relegated FC Schalke 04, the Berliners prevailed 2: 1 (1: 1) and could with a home win on Saturday (3.30 p.m. / Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) against 1. FC Köln reach their goal early. Dedryck Boyata (19th) compensated for the early Schalke leadership by Amine Harit (6th), substitute Jessica Ngankam (73rd) gave Hertha the second win in the fourth game after the two-week corona quarantine, the Berliners have been in total for seven Games undefeated.
The duel with the Royal Blues, who had been relegated for three weeks and who played with the last squad due to three corona cases, was described by coach Pal Dardai as a “bonus”. The “joker”, as requested by the coach, was only drawn by his team in the final phase. In the 88th minute, however, Dodi Lukebakio flew from Berlin with a yellow-red.
The bottom of the table was missing seven players after the corona outbreak – in addition to the three professionals who tested positive, there were also four contact persons who had to go into isolation in the quarantine hotel. Coach Dimitrios Grammozis expanded the Schalke Bundesliga record and offered the 40th player of the season with Blendi Idrizi from the Regionalliga team.
The 30 standard goals conceded, as well as the 20 goals conceded by headers, are the most that a team has conceded since the introduction of data collection in 2004. In addition, the worst record is becoming more and more realistic. Only with two wins could the Royal Blues (13 points) avoid going down in Bundesliga history as the worst relegated team since the introduction of the three-point rule. So far this has been SC Freiburg (18 in the 2004/05 season).
A double post secures Hertha victory
Dardai started the rotation again after the 0-0 win against Arminia Bielefeld. Only goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, midfielder Lucas Tousart and striker Krzysztof Piatek remained in the starting line-up, with the two top scorers Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha not injured.
A remarkable individual action put Schalke in the lead: Harit picked up a pass from Sead Kolasinac in front of the penalty area, penetrated into the 16er and gave Schwolow no chance with a shot into the far corner. From the dugout, Dardai watched in dismay. His team got the compensation on a silver platter: After a free kick by Marvin Plattenhardt, Boyata headed completely free. It was the 30th goal against Schalke after a standard situation.
Hertha rebuilt the gift. The Berliners took over control of the game more and more, but apart from a harmless long-range shot by Nemanja Radonjic (35th), nothing jumped out for a long time. Shortly before the break, Javairo Dilrosun shot twice from a promising position over it (44./45.+1).
After the break, Piatek failed with a header at Schalke keeper Ralf Fährmann (55th) and then had to leave the field injured. A little later, the guests were lucky that Klaas-Jan Huntelaar only hit the outside netting (58th). After the Berlin leadership, Radonjic forgave the decision (83rd). On the other side, Schalke failed with Shkodran Mustafi and Benito Raman twice on the post within seconds (90. + 3).
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