Schalke’s dreadful start to the season reached a new level. The Royal Blues lost on matchday 5 of the Bundesliga 2-1 against 1899 Hoffenheim despite taking an early lead and sit firmly rooted to the bottom of the table with no points. It is the first time in their history that Schalke have lost their first five matches in the Bundesliga. TSG earned themselves a win after four draws in a row.
Andrej Kramaric and Lukas Rupp got the goals for Hoffenheim. Schalke, who travel to RB Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday, were not able to kick on after Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting put them in front early on. The 29,288 spectators in the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, among whom sat Germany head coach Joachim Löw, saw a much-changed away side. Weinzierl made four changes to the team that lost 3-1 to FC Köln. One of the players brought into the starting line-up was young talent Breel Emobolo, who set up the headed goal from Choupo-Moting. The hosts should have hit back immediately after that. Following some good play from Kerem Demirbay, Kramaric had the best chance to equalise but could not take it. But the Croat made it all square just a few minutes later with his second goal of the season, heading in from a cross from Pavel Kaderabek.
Goretzka an asset for Schalke
Leon Goretzka began causing problems for the Hoffenheim defence and not long later, Schalke’s top goalscorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hit the post with a header. The injured Ermin Bicakcic had to be substituted for the hosts shortly before the break after picking up an injury. He was replaced by Swiss international Fabian Schär. Rupp put TSG in front with his second goal of the season soon after, following some great play from Kerim Demirbay, who looked dangerous on the counterattack throughout the entire match. Uth had to be taken off in the 65th minute with a thigh injury and eight minutes later, his replacement Nadiem Amiri hit the outside of the post.
Schalke upped the tempo after the break. It was Hoffenheim, however, that had the first chance of the half but Mark Uth blasted his shot over the bar. Five minutes later, Kramaric had a go from distance but his shot was off target. Schalke forced TSG to defend even more towards the end but Hoffenheim managed to break down their counter-attacks. Uth had to come off because of a thigh injury in the 65th minute. Nadiem Amiri came on to replace him and hit the post just 8 minutes later.
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Schalke’s dreadful start to the season reached a new level. The Royal Blues lost on matchday 5 of the Bundesliga 2-1 against 1899 Hoffenheim despite taking an early lead and sit firmly rooted to the bottom of the table with no points. It is the first time in their history that Schalke have lost their first five matches in the Bundesliga. TSG earned themselves a win after four draws in a row.
Andrej Kramaric and Lukas Rupp got the goals for Hoffenheim. Schalke, who travel to RB Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday, were not able to kick on after Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting put them in front early on. The 29,288 spectators in the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, among whom sat Germany head coach Joachim Löw, saw a much-changed away side. Weinzierl made four changes to the team that lost 3-1 to FC Köln. One of the players brought into the starting line-up was young talent Breel Emobolo, who set up the headed goal from Choupo-Moting. The hosts should have hit back immediately after that. Following some good play from Kerem Demirbay, Kramaric had the best chance to equalise but could not take it. But the Croat made it all square just a few minutes later with his second goal of the season, heading in from a cross from Pavel Kaderabek.
Goretzka an asset for Schalke
Leon Goretzka began causing problems for the Hoffenheim defence and not long later, Schalke’s top goalscorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hit the post with a header. The injured Ermin Bicakcic had to be substituted for the hosts shortly before the break after picking up an injury. He was replaced by Swiss international Fabian Schär. Rupp put TSG in front with his second goal of the season soon after, following some great play from Kerim Demirbay, who looked dangerous on the counterattack throughout the entire match. Uth had to be taken off in the 65th minute with a thigh injury and eight minutes later, his replacement Nadiem Amiri hit the outside of the post.
Schalke upped the tempo after the break. It was Hoffenheim, however, that had the first chance of the half but Mark Uth blasted his shot over the bar. Five minutes later, Kramaric had a go from distance but his shot was off target. Schalke forced TSG to defend even more towards the end but Hoffenheim managed to break down their counter-attacks. Uth had to come off because of a thigh injury in the 65th minute. Nadiem Amiri came on to replace him and hit the post just 8 minutes later.
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FC Köln and RB Leipzig have to settle for a point
FC Köln and newly promoted RB Leipzig carry on their unbeaten runs in the Bundesliga. The two surprise packages of this season shared the points in the 1-1 draw and are still up there in the top half of the table. Köln are in third place with 11 points and travel to leaders FC Bayern München next Saturday whilst RB Leipzig occupy seventh place with 9 points.
Oliver Burke put Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team in the lead early on with his goal in the 5th minute. Köln were not put out by this and managed to find the equaliser through Yuya Osako in the 25th minute and are still unbeaten in their last 10 Bundesliga matches.
RB Leipzig played well in front of the 48,500 Köln fans and managed to take the lead with their first shot on goal through Oliver Burke who managed to make a run between the Köln defenders. Then RB Leipzig let FC Köln take control of the game but they stood strong in defence and even had a few chances of their own. The next highlight of the match was Osako’s equaliser. His shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle is certainly a contender for goal of the season.
Köln’s proven recipe
Köln were looking the more dangerous side and were doing exactly what Leipzig had been doing so well: winning one-on-one duels and attacking with pace. FC Köln were looking to find the winner but they didn’t manage to create many clear-cut chances. The guests were also struggling to break though and kept trying to play balls through the middle. Burke’s goal was the only shot on goal that the hosts had before half time.
It was an even contest between the two tactically strong sides after the break. Anthony Modeste and Marcel Risse came close to finding a winner for FC Köln whilst Oliver Burke and the lively Marcel Sabitzer came close at the other end. The tempo slowed a bit towards the end of the game but it was still a hard-fought battle between the two teams.
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