Whe supporters of FC Schalke 04 celebrated what at first glance seemed a rather small success against Borussia Dortmund, which will hardly have a positive effect on the table. The 100th Bundesliga district derby ended 2-2 (0-1), but Schalke coach Thomas Reis jumped jubilantly along the sidelines after the final whistle and the stadium announcer’s voice cracked when he announced the final result.
The fans sang as if in a trance, and the players, of whom only Ralf Fährmann had experienced such a derby in this stadium, were amazed at the force of the emotions that hit them. “The mood was brutal today, that gave us an incredible boost,” said Schalke striker Marius Bülter, who scored one goal and set up the second. “If you’re behind twice and come back again, that feels good.”
It was a rousing football game that didn’t look like the duel between the bottom of the table and the high-flying team that had previously won eight Bundesliga games in a row. It was intense and passionate, the stadium vibrated; The smoke from the pyrotechnics that kept burning in both fan blocks lay over the pitch for practically the entire game. Dortmund seemed a bit more mature, but it was tight, and the promoted team had the greatest chance of the first half, which was actually dominated by BVB: After a somewhat clumsy interaction between Mats Hummels and Nico Schlotterbeck, Rodrigo Zalazar got the ball and had a clear path to Dortmund Goal. But the Uruguayan’s 15-metre shot flew just wide of the short goal angle (25′). The lead that Dortmund took at half-time after a goal by Nico Schlotterbeck was fully deserved.
Schlotterbeck had a little too much space 18 meters in front of the Dortmund goal, simply shot at goal and gave Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann no chance to defend himself (38th). Dortmund were clearly the better team before the break because they not only got involved in the emotional battle that Schalke wanted to wage, but also showed their footballing superiority. “We played really good football there and we didn’t want to stop with that,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out and “then it got wild”. Schalke benefited from this and were now able to compensate for their weaknesses with passion.
Schlotterbeck flexed his muscles and scored the opening goal for BVB
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Image: Reuters
The tendency towards this kind of loss of control is “the reason why we were always reluctant when we talked about the championship,” explained Terzic, who was apparently not surprised by this turn of events. Dortmund could have prevented that before the break by converting one or two of their many chances, and then in the second half they failed to counter with full energy. The highly praised but sometimes surprisingly negligent Jew Bellingham lost decisive duels in front of the two Schalke goals. “We didn’t support each other like we did in the first half, so we can’t complain if you catch two counterattacks like that,” Terzic said.
After 50 minutes, the Englishman lost the ball near the halfway line, allowing Michale Frey a clear path down the right wing and Bülter playing in the centre, whose shot caused an explosion of joy in the arena. After five district derbies without a goal for Schalke, it was the first goal in such a duel since 2019. The crowd then finally saw a great football game that swayed back and forth and in which BVB was by no means worse, so that Raphael Guerreiro scored the 2: 1 came as no surprise. The Portuguese, who was used in the unfamiliar position in the center of attacking midfield, was played brilliantly by Emre Can and put the ball high into the long corner of the goal from 14 meters (60′).
But Schalke, who, like Dortmund, remained unbeaten in the second half of the season, continued to believe in their chance and made it 2-2 (79th) with a header from Kenan Karaman. Eder Balanta even had a very good opportunity to score a third goal for Schalke, but goalkeeper Alexander Meyer saved the not quite perfectly placed ball (88th). “It was nice for the spectators, but it was very frustrating for us today,” was the summary of Dortmund coach Terzic, whose team now has to cope with the second disappointment in four days after being eliminated from the Champions League.
