Thanks to Simon Terodde, Schalke 04 ended their longest series of bankruptcies in the Bundesliga and can once again hope to stay up in the league. With his first goal after 500 minutes of competitive play, the second division record scorer led the bottom of the table to a 1-0 (1-0) win against FSV Mainz 05 – after seven league defeats in a row. The Royal Blues recorded their first three-pointer since September 10, when their new coach Thomas Reis was still coach at opponents VfL Bochum.
Terodde, the undisputed number one in the second division with 172 goals, scored only for the third time this season and for the 13th time in the Bundesliga (10th). The early lead inspired Schalke to their best performance of the season and brought them within two points of the relegation place. Mainz is stuck in the lower middle of the table after the third bankruptcy in a row.
“It was important to show that we’re still alive. That’s encouraging. The last two games were a step in the right direction,” said Terodde sky. Mainz sports director Martin Schmidt, on the other hand, complained: “We haven’t done enough – in all areas.”
Three and a half years after his resignation as head of sports at Schalke, Christian Heidel returned to the stands in the Veltins Arena. For many fans, the Mainz board of directors at Schalke is the main culprit for the crash of the former Champions League regular: Heidel spent more than 160 million euros on players, not a single one of whom plays for royal blue anymore, but the heavily indebted club is still paying transfer rates .
He saw a Schalke team that attacked early and won the ball in the Mainz half. The fans were already cheering when Florent Mollet curled a free-kick over the wall – but into the side netting (9′). Only a few seconds later, Alex Kral Terodde played, who took the ball with his heel and didn’t give goalkeeper Robin Zentner a chance. It was only the third 1-0 lead for Gelsenkirchen – in their 14th game of the season.
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Only four minutes later, Terodde had the opportunity to make it 2-0, but was denied by Zentner after a cross from Tobias Mohr. After that, Mainz intensified their attacking efforts, pushing the hosts into their own half. Schalke kept finding opportunities to counterattack quickly, but lacked precision in the end: the strong Kral put the ball just wide of the goal after a one-two with Marius Bülter (31′).
After a cross from Terodde, Kenan Karaman failed at Zentner (55th). Marius Bülter practically had an empty goal in front of him after a counterattack in the 86th minute, but he put the ball on the post.
Schalke 04 – FSV Mainz 05: The voices
Thomas Reis (Schalke 04 coach): “We had a lot of grip from the first minute, took the lead and should have won the game earlier. We’re happy that we kept the three points here to at least keep up. The team has finally made up their minds rewarded for the effort.”
Bo Svensson (FSV Mainz 05 coach): “We never put on the pitch what was expected of us. Schalke were superior to us in every aspect of the game. We lose every tackle, every second ball. Overall it was a very disappointing performance from us, a game that makes us think.”
