Desolate Schalke miss the small miracle
After 26 minutes, the top match of the 2nd Bundesliga already seems to be decided. FC Schalke 04 are 3-0 down at Fortuna Düsseldorf. But the visitors woke up in the second half and came close to an impressive resurrection. In the end, it was not enough.
Bundesliga relegated Schalke 04 simply cannot get out of the cellar in the 2nd division. The miners lost 3:5 (0:3) at Fortuna Düsseldorf in the wild top match on Saturday evening after a desolate performance for a long time and are stuck in relegation place 16. It was the fourth defeat in the sixth competitive match under new coach Karel Geraerts.
Düsseldorf, who lost captain Marcel Sobottka with a thigh injury, climbed to third place after two recent defeats. Vincent Vermeij, who returned from concussion, scored twice (13/26). "I'm really pleased for Vince," said sporting director Klaus Allofs on Sky: "He's worked a lot this season, but hasn't scored that many goals yet." The other Fortuna goals were scored by Felix Klaus (19th), Christos Tzolis (65th) and Jona Niemiec (90.+4).
But Schalke did not give up after the horror start. Former Düsseldorf player Marcin Kaminski (57'), Tomas Kalas (74') and Bryan Lasme (75') were still successful. But another 4:4 failed to materialize on the sixth anniversary of the crazy derby at Borussia Dortmund, when Schalke caught up with four goals.
In addition to Vermeij, Fortuna coach Daniel Thioune was able to call on full-back Yannik Engelhardt again after his yellow card suspension, while central defender Jordy De Wijs was absent due to muscular problems. However, the defense was rarely tested. Vermeij headed home a cross from Nicolas Gavory to take the lead. The 2:0 was scored after a low cross from Tzolis, Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann had no chance of defending against Klaus' deflected shot.
For the third goal, the ball bounced back into the box from the crossbar, Fährmann wandered around the five-man box disoriented and Vermeij headed in again. Geraerts brought on three new players after just over half an hour and switched to a back four. That helped his team, which got back on track. Nevertheless, the Schalke ultras temporarily stopped their support - but woke up at the latest when Lasme connected from twelve meters.
Despite the 3-0 deficit at half-time, FC Schalke 04 showed resilience in the second half of the Bundesliga 2 match against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Marcin Kaminski, Tomas Kalas, and Bryan Lasme scored to narrow the gap, but it wasn't enough to secure a comeback for Schalke. The relegated team remains in the relegation zone, while Fortuna Düsseldorf moved up to third place with Vincent Vermeij scoring twice in the victory.
Source: www.ntv.de
