For the first time since returning to the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 was able to defeat Bochum by a score of 2 to 0. While they had previously drawn four games (all by a score of 0 to 0), we can infer that they are now on the mend as they currently have 19 points and have drawn with Hoffenheim, their own Bochum, and perhaps even Stuttgart, who play the Bayern Munich this coming Saturday. On the other side of the standings, Union Berlin and Freiburg failed to score in their games and distanced themselves from the leaders.
At the stroke of seven minutes, Philipp Hofmann had the opportunity to open the gate for the home team, but due to the small area, he sent the ball up. To end the initial phase, though, Rodrigo Zalazar played beautifully on the right side of the field.
commanded to the area. The ball went into the defence and was entering as Manuel Riemann, the goalie, exited poorly. Erhan Masovic tried to distance himself, but Riemann finally succeeded in disarming his own companion and fought back. When Riemann was stopped by a fantastic head-on defence from Simon Terodde, Schalke took a sweeping kick to the middle of the field, and Marius Bülter appeared to close the gap.
Not that it will have a huge impact on a team that won just four games this season, but it was Schalke 04’s first victory away from home. In addition to beating Bochum in Gelsenkirchen and Mainz and Stuttgart the week before, they also defeated Bochum in Gelsenkirchen. The subsequent 0-0 draws were against Colonia, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wolfsburg, and Union Berlim.
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Speaking of Union Berlim, the capital’s team lost 0–0 to Colombia at home on Saturday and moved up to third place on 44 points, one point behind Borussia Dortmund (and maybe Bayern Munich if they beat Stuttgart). The Union made the initial moves, but the Colony nearly opened the gate in a Dejan-crossed chute.
Ljubicic. The goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow performed admirably on a ball that Steffen Tigges batted down and made more crucial saves in the second half, including on a powerful forward finish by Florian Sainz. The Union struggled to create, and the Colony recovered a lot of balls from the battle field.
Another team that slipped somewhat behind the pack was Freiburg, which tied Borussia Mönchengladbach by the same score of 0 to 0 and is currently in fifth place, six points behind the lead. Alassane Pléa and the goalkeeper were face to face after 17 minutes, but Mark Flekken moved well to make a strong defence, and Lukas Kübler cut off the head of an errant escanteio above the line to prevent another Gladbach goal.
Schalke
The owners of the house arrived to see a penalty mark in their favour above Marcus Thuram, which was turned around after the referee arrived at the monitor. In 42 minutes, Ramy Bensebaini was awarded a yellow card for kicking a ball outside while the game was stopped and another immediately after for ironically applauding the referee.
Was expelled. In the other games that day, Mainz defeated Hoffenheim by a score of 1 to 0 and Augsburg defeated Werder Bremen by a score of 2 to 1. A fifth defeat at time ofNiclas Füllkrug, one of the World Cup’s highlights since the resumption of the German Championship.