Schalke 04 just managed to avert an impending defeat. Marius Bülter saves the Royal Blues with a penalty kick in injury time to make it 1-1 (0-0) at FC Augsburg.
Attacker Michael Frey angrily hit his hand on the lawn, but 8,000 fans from Gelsenkirchen celebrated their series heroes like winners. Schalke 04 remains unbeaten in the second half of the Bundesliga season, but with a majority at FC Augsburg they could do better than 1-1 (0-0).
“Of course we’re happy that we took something with us in the end,” said coach Thomas Reis sky. Midfielder Arne Maier (51st) initially made FCA celebrate in front of 30,660 spectators in the sold-out WWK Arena. But after the red card against striker Ermedin Demirovic (53rd), who hit Tom Krauss in the head with his foot, Marius Bülter (90th + 3, penalty kick) equalized.
The Knappen were on the losing road for a long time, in the long-distance duels in the relegation battle there was a risk of falling to the bottom of the table. But the numerical superiority was ultimately decisive for the Royal Blues coming back, even if it took until injury time to equalize. Defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw hit substitute Simon Terodde in the penalty area on the foot, Bülter kept his nerve from the point.
“You can’t blame Ermedin, he doesn’t see him,” said goalscorer Maier, “it’s annoying that it wasn’t enough, even more so when you get a penalty so late that you can give. But down there it counts every point.”
FC Augsburg: Demirovic sees the red card
At Augsburg, the focus was particularly on DFB newcomer Mergim Berisha. The striker needed less than 60 seconds to put himself in the limelight with a header just over the goal, but was unlucky in the end and was substituted (74′).
FCA initially kept looking for him or his neighbor Demirovic with long balls, which the attackers mostly put down in the tens. From there it went back to the center via the outside, where one of the tips should end.
Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann was soon put under a serious test by Ruben Vargas (18′). On the other side, Bülter got a dangerous shot (19′). The hosts determined the action, Fährmann parried a long-range shot by Elvis Rexhbecaj (23rd). Schalke could often only resist the pressure with fouls. And so six player Eder Balanta, who, like Derby hero Kenan Karaman, had been rotated into the team, had to leave the field early on (35′).
At Augsburg, Maximilian Bauer remained in the dressing room, but FCA pushed on – and was rewarded. After a weak discount from the ferryman and a one-two with Demirovic, Maier pushed in. Shortly thereafter, his “assistant” was rightly thrown off the field, although it could not be assumed that he had any intention.
The already hard-fought game became increasingly difficult. After a collision with Cedric Brunner, Rexhbecaj lay covered in blood, but continued to play with a bandage on his head. “Maskenmann” Brunner, on the other hand, had to leave the field in a daze (67th). Joker Terodde missed the best chance of Schalke equalizing (71st). In stoppage time, he got the penalty kick out.
FC Augsburg – Schalke 04: The voices
Enrico Maassen (FC Augsburg coach): “We were a slightly better team up to the goal in an intense battle. The red card was the crux of the matter, after that it was just a matter of defending it away. We did that very well. The moment when we get the penalty is then very angry. The minimum goal was to keep Schalke at bay, and we did that.”
Thomas Reis (Schalke 04 coach): “In the first half, I completely lacked conviction in my team, I addressed that very clearly at half-time. We were second winners every time we played the second ball, which was very, very annoying. Then we invited Augsburg to score a goal The red card helped us a lot, but we solved it very, very badly there too. But we never gave up, we’re happy to take the point and we don’t have to be ashamed of it.”
