SInstead of an Easter walk, more than 10,000 ardent supporters of FC Schalke 04 chose a kind of Easter pilgrimage to Sinsheim this time. Expecting her royal blue team to gift her appropriately in return. After all, the trend-setting game of the Bundesliga bottom after the Stuttgart Sunday victory in Bochum at the fifth bottom, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, was imminent, which recently celebrated two wins in a row after months without a sense of achievement.
So did the Kraichgauer say that all good things come in threes? The players and their finally victorious new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo firmly believed in the worthwhile trifecta on Easter Sunday – in contrast to the Schalke supporters, who lost the illusion that their series of eight unbeaten encounters will never end. So why not start a new series, said the numerous well-and-optimists of the traditional Westphalian club before the duel between two teams with eye contact to the second division. Before the bankruptcy-bad luck-and-glitch game.
After that, the numerous supporters had to come to terms with a defeat, as is almost always the case in Sinsheim, which was caused by an own goal by Kral (22nd minute) and a penalty goal by Bebou in the second attempt (70th) in the 0:2. The Hoffenheim team, on the other hand, are equipped with new self-confidence and, as currently fourteenth in the table, already have a respectable lead of six points over the first relegation zone. Another first class year is becoming more and more likely.
“We knew how important the game was,” said Schalke striker Bülter afterwards. “But we didn’t manage it, it hurts. At DAZN he analyzed: “We were not compelling enough. Now we have to continue working together with the fans, they can be our bargaining chip.”
It looks pitch black for Schalke
The game started with a bang when Schalke’s best goalscorer to date, Bülter (seven goals), steered the ball onto the crossbar (1′). That was not to be the only aluminum goal in this very eventful argument, as later Yoshida’s header hit the post (24′). Despite the two moments of shock, the North Badeners showed their playful superiority in a number of scenes and sequences worth seeing.
Matching the duel between an endangered and a highly endangered team, Hoffenheim’s 1-0 result came from a Schalke own goal after a one-two between Baumgartner and Angelino. The Spaniard’s subsequent cross into the six-yard box finally carried the Czech Kral into his own goal, which was untenable for keeper Fährmann. The significantly better team was leading, but luck was on their side three times – in a Schalke away and home game at the same time, in which the Gelsenkirchen fans tried to push their team to victory. But sometimes also with unfair means, when some of them threw objects onto the field – when the Hoffenheim professionals tried to take corner kicks in front of the north stand occupied by Schalkern.
After the break, as in the first half, Schalke’s Bülter gave a first sign of hope when his long-range shot just missed the goal (53′). But as in the first half – see Kral own goal – Schalke hurt themselves again. After Yoshida’s rather stupid foul on the side line of the penalty area against the lively Baumgartner, referee Jöllenbeck awarded Hoffenheim a penalty. But Bebou shot it so badly that Fährmann was able to parry the ball. All the more stupid that the goalkeeper had previously taken an illegal step forward, away from the goal line. So Bebou ran again and scored on the second try. 2:0 – the game was decided.
Hoffenheim is well on the way to staying in the class. For royal blue, on the other hand, it looks pitch dark. If the team doesn’t win their home game against penultimate Hertha BSC on Friday, a return to the second Bundesliga is anything but unlikely. In order to turn the tide again, you need the unshakable confidence of your own followers, even if they could only take a grain of hope with them from the Easter trip to Sinsheim on the way back to the West.
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