At the old place of work, coach Thomas Reis beats VfL Bochum 2-0 with Schalke and hands over the red lantern to the district rival.
Thomas Reis was rather quietly happy about the important triumph in the old living room, but the Schalke 04 coach, clearly relieved, gave his players a high five. The Red Lantern handed the Royal Blues 2-0 (1-0) in the tram derby to VfL Bochum, and the belief in staying up in the league receives new nourishment.
“Of course I’m happy, those were incredibly important three points, but you can also celebrate internally,” Reis explained his “respectful” jubilation in the duel with the ex-club on Sky, but also warned: “There are still a few steps to go .” Reis did not want to comment on the unfriendly reception by the VfL supporters: “The three points are the most important thing for me.”
After six games in a row without defeat, the Gelsenkircheners have not only caught up with their neighbors, but also with their other competitors in the relegation battle under their new coach. For the first time since the end of October, Schalke are no longer bottom. “Of course that was brutally important,” said goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann: “We’ll take the positive things with us.”
Bochum keeper Manuel Riemann gave Schalke the lead with a curious own goal (45′), Marius Bülter (79′) followed suit. For the Royal Blues, the longest negative series in the Bundesliga ended with the first away win since November 2019 – after 38 games. “We’re back in full swing,” said Bülter.
At VfL, on the other hand, the crisis is getting worse: After the fifth competitive defeat in a row, Bochum is bottom again for the first time in four and a half months. “If you make mistakes like we did, you don’t deserve to win,” said Philipp Förster after the fans had greeted the players in the east stand with whistles.
As expected, the reception for rice was unfriendly before kick-off. “If you’re not a dishonorable bastard, then who?” emblazoned on a banner in the east stand – alluding to his saying shortly before the dismissal: “If I’m not a Bochumer, then who?” To this day, VfL fans have not forgiven him for the change shortly after he was kicked out after the 3-1 defeat in the first leg at Schalke.
Riemann fails in Schalke’s leadership
The 49-year-old, who worked for VfL as a player and coach for more than 20 years and still lives in Bochum, had made two changes to his team since the 2-1 win over VfB Stuttgart. Reis’ Bochum successor Thomas Letsch made four changes after the 3-0 defeat at Werder Bremen. Captain Anthony Losilla continued to miss due to his suspension.
Reis experienced a moment of shock in the early stages: Philipp Hofmann shot the ball freely over the Schalke goal from five yards (7′). The first Bundesliga derby between the two neighbors in the Ruhr Stadium in over 13 years was marked by many duels and fouls. The ball landed on the stadium roof rather than in the goal.
Most of the time, however, both teams tried long shots at their center forwards. Significant: Schalke’s opening goal was a gift from Bochum. After a cross from Rodrigo Zalazar, Riemann maneuvered the ball over the line.
After the change of sides, Schalke took over the command. The Bochum fans shouted in frustration: “We want to see you fight!” It didn’t help.
VfL Bochum – Schalke 04: The voices of the game
Thomas Letsch (coach VfL Bochum): “It’s all different from what we imagined. We missed a big opportunity, we were responsible for sitting here with zero points. If you don’t take your chances, you have to at least make it with 0 :0 to go into half-time. We didn’t make it again. That’s our massive problem. We didn’t pull the momentum to our side.”
Thomas Reis (Schalke 04 coach): “Of course we’re very happy that we were able to successfully play the next fateful game that was promised to us. We didn’t get into the game that well in the first half, Bochum had the better chances. At the moment the little bit is on our side side so you score a curious goal. We’re glad we took home three points.”
