Cup balm on the league horror: Schalke wins (actually), RB takes revenge

Tuesday 22nd December 2020

Cup balm on the league horror
Schalke wins (actually), RB takes revenge

As disastrous as the Tasmanian record in the Bundesliga is, FC Schalke 04 is harmless in the DFB Cup. Also in the second round there is a sense of achievement – against fourth division Ulm. The victory of Huub Stevens’ team is not convincing.

SSV Ulm 1846 – FC Schalke 04 1:3 (0:1)

Huub Stevens laughed in relief and clapped his hands in satisfaction: With a bitterly necessary sense of achievement, the “coach of the century” ended his last intermezzo as a temporary coach at Schalke 04 and provided the bottom of the Bundesliga table with a little money to buy for the winter. The Royal Blues, without a win in 29 league games, defeated the regional league team SSV Ulm 3-1 (1-0) in the second round of the DFB Cup and collected 700,000 euros for their place in the round of 16. So the ailing sports director Jochen Schneider has to find reinforcement for the attack in the transfer period in January for the heavily indebted club.

Who, as Stevens’ successor, will take on the almost hopeless mission to stay up after the short winter break, should be announced on Wednesday. In addition to Friedhelm Funkel (67), the two ex-Stuttgarters Christian Gross (66) and Alexander Zorniger (53), whom Schneider knows from his time at VfB, are candidates. Gross recently trained in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Zorniger the Danish ex-champion Brondby IF. “I’ve had fun these five days,” said Stevens. “We have reached the next round, that is the most important thing. We finally managed to win again.”

With his first goal since the last Schalke Bundesliga win on January 17th (2-0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach), Suat Serdar took the lead (27th). Benito Raman made the decision with a brace (51st and 63rd). For Ulm, Johannes Reichert (82.) met in the margin after his own penalty. As in the first round in the 4: 1 against the regional division Schweinfurt 05, the unsettled Schalke team had problems with the three-tier lower club for one half. The courageous Ulmer had the first chance to score through Nicolas Jann (23rd), but Serdar scored the first goal with a long-range shot – out of the blue. Only after the break did the Stevens team become more dominant. The reward: After a shot by Harit, which Ulm’s keeper Maximilian Reule fended off, Raman dusted off to make it 2-0. Before he made the final decision.

TSG Hoffenheim – SpVgg Greuther Fürth 6: 7 nE (1: 1; 2: 2)

The TSG Hoffenheim players no longer wanted to watch the wild cup dance of SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Andrej Kramaric and Co. fled after the 6-7 on penalties against the second division third in the sprint into the cabin. Meanwhile, the people of Fürth celebrated their premature giving of presents with screams of victory and La Ola. After regular playing time and extra time it was 2: 2 (1: 1).

There is a detailed report here!

FC Augsburg – RB Leipzig 0:3 (0:1)

RB Leipzig has avenged itself for its “defeat” in the dispute over the date and thoroughly spoiled the Christmas party for FC Augsburg. The clearly superior team of coach Julian Nagelsmann deservedly prevailed in the one-sided Bundesliga duel 3-0 (1-0) and made it into the second round for the third time in a row. Willi Orban (11th) gave the 2019 finalist an early lead with his header, the rest was taken care of by Joker Yussuf Poulsen after a fine solo (74th) and Angelino with a nice shot from the edge of the penalty area (82nd). Augsburg was able to thank its outstanding goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz that the fourth cup duel with RB (now 2-2 wins) was not decided much earlier.

Leipzig had only wanted to play the match in the new year due to the tight calendar, which Augsburg refused. The FCA will “notice” that RB is now ready for the cup fight, Nagelsmann said piqued – and was right. Because he expected the opponent to be “very deep” and therefore “rather limited space”, he relied on “many uncomfortable, agile midfielders”. That was exactly the right approach. Leipzig with Emil Forsberg and Dani Olmo, who joined the team, played dominantly and were technically superior. Nordi Mukiele had the first good opportunity with his head, but Gikiewicz showed his first of numerous saves (10th). The next corner was the tour guide: Angelino kicked it, Orban was there from five meters. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw had previously miscalculated.

Captain Marcel Sabitzer (13th) and Marcel Halstenberg (21st) missed chances for a second goal before the home side appeared in the RB sixteen for the first time. The half-time record made the balance of power clear: 28:72 percent possession, 2: 8 corners, 1:12 shots on goal from the hosts’ point of view. After the break, Augsburg put more and more of its hesitation and attacked much earlier. The opened RB rooms, Gikiewicz had to save against Kevin Kampl (50th) and Forsberg (52nd). Poulsen, already successful with a dream goal at 2-0 in the league in mid-October, brought the decision after a counterattack, which Angelino rounded off nicely.

1. FC Cologne – VfL Osnabrück 1-0

Thanks to Anthony Modeste, 1. FC Köln reached the round of 16 for the first time in three years. The striker decided the duel with the stubborn second division club VfL Osnabrück with his goal and gave the favorite a lackluster 1-0 (1-0) two days before Christmas Eve. Modeste (45th + 1) scored just before half-time. For the long-injured Frenchman, it was the first goal since the 1-1 draw in the Bundesliga at FC Augsburg on June 7th. Who the Cologne will meet in the next round will be drawn on January 3rd. The round of 16 is scheduled for February 2nd and 3rd.

Cologne coach Markus Gisdol had warned of tenth in the second division – and the guests from Osnabrück proved to be an unpleasant and difficult opponent from the start. With a lot of effort, running work and loud commands, VfL managed to keep the favorites away from their own goal. With a free kick by Sebastian Kerk (28th) Osnabrück also had the first good chance. Cologne, on the other hand, did not initially come into the danger zone. There was a lack of speed, ideas and precision to pose problems for the second division side.

Ismail Jakobs was the most conspicuous, but the junior national player could not prevail either. His first shot on goal (35th) flew clearly past. Shortly thereafter, the ball landed on the crossbar (36th) of the Osnabrück goal after a tackle by Ellyes Skhiri. Cologne now came to some deals and increased the pressure. Modeste was just blocked in his first dangerous action (45th), shortly afterwards the Frenchman scored 1-0 after a nice pass from Ondrej Duda. With the lead in the back, FC controlled the game from then on. In all efforts, Osnabrück reached its limits and occupied the Cologne defense, which had recently not conceded a goal in the league at RB Leipzig, far too little.