Second division leaders FC St. Pauli suffered a setback at FC Schalke 04 with their second defeat of the season. Coach Fabian Hürzeler’s team deservedly lost 1:3 (0:1) to the much-improved Bundesliga relegated team on Friday evening.
In front of 61,497 spectators in the sold-out Schalke Arena, Yusuf Kabadayi (44th minute/73rd) and Kenan Karaman (90th + 2) scored twice for the Revierklub, which was able to move away from the relegation zone. Hamburg, who had had no chance for a long time, only shortened the lead thanks to a deflected shot from Elias Saad (89′).
The league leader, who had been so confident up until now, was clearly inferior, was hardly a threat and only barely avoided an even greater defeat. In addition, Eric Smith was injured early on and had to be substituted in the twelfth minute.
The gap to a non-promotion position could now be reduced to seven points for Hamburg this weekend. St. Pauli suffered their last and first defeat of the season three weeks ago in Magdeburg.
The third home win in a row was extremely important for Schalke. After the 3-0 defeat after an indisputable performance in Magdeburg, the mood in Gelsenkirchen had changed. On Monday, the team expressed its opinion internally in an intensive discussion. Coach Karel Geraerts, who came under pressure, reacted with five starting eleven changes and was rewarded: his team had not appeared as committed and superior as against St. Pauli for a long time.
Point thanks to a penalty for Kiel
With a lot of luck, Holstein Kiel averted another major setback in the promotion race. The North Germans came to a late 2:2 (0:2) at Hertha BSC. The Berliners already looked like the winners after two goals from Haris Tabakovic (17th/45th). But first Finn Porath shortened the score (80′), and then the video referee intervened in stoppage time. Referee Bastian Dankert decided on a foul, and Timo Becker (90th + 8) scored from the penalty spot.
While Hertha hardly has any remaining chance of returning to the Bundesliga despite now four games without defeat, the Kiel team were at least able to move one point closer to leaders FC St. Pauli. However, Hamburger SV can push their rivals out of direct promotion with a win on Sunday against VfL Osnabrück.
Tabakovic (17th minute) caught a failed back pass from Kiel captain Philipp Sander and scored to give the hosts the lead in front of 46,835 spectators in the Olympic Stadium. Shortly before the break, Tabakovic added his 13th goal of the season.
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Kiel tried to break the Berlin barrier with persistence and order in the game. A week after the defeat in the wild top game against St. Pauli (3:4), the guests did not pose much of a goal threat.
The Berliners were closer to the third goal, although the former Kiel player Fabian Reese was able to set fewer accents than usual this time. Jonjoe Kenny (59th) hit the crossbar with a free kick. When Porath scored from a distance, things got exciting again in the final phase. And then there was a foul by Linus Gechter in the penalty area and the late equalizer by Becker.
