At 10:26 p.m. all dams broke at Schalke: the fans stormed the pitch after returning to the Bundesliga, goalscorer Simon Terodde howled like a fox and coach Mike Büskens hugged his players. “The S04 is back,” chanted the overjoyed supporters at the top of their lungs. It was the start of a long night of partying in Gelsenkirchen.
“The feeling is incredible. It was our dream. We had to fight for it, you don’t get it for free,” said Büskens on Sky: “A huge compliment to the squad. It’s unbelievable.”
To return to the German House of Lords after 382 days, an energy performance was necessary. The leaders of the second division defeated FC St. Pauli 3:2 (0:2) after trailing 0:2 and can no longer be ousted from one of the first two places on the last day of the game.
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Goal scorer Terodde with his season goals 28 and 29 (47th, penalty kick/71st) and joker Rodrigo Zalazar (78th) shot the Royal Blues back into the Bundesliga for the fourth time after 1982, 1984 and 1991 in front of 62,271 spectators in the sold-out Veltins Arena – for the third time after just one second division season. On April 20, 2021, the royal blues sealed their fourth relegation with a 0-1 draw at Arminia Bielefeld.
Igor Matanovic (9th and 17th) put Hamburg in the lead with a brace. After the sixth game in a row without a win, the chances of promotion for St. Pauli, a month ago the leader, are only theoretical. Marcel Beifus also saw the red card for a serious foul (81′), Matanovic was sent off with a yellow card (90’+5′).
Even before the kick-off, the Royal Blues were celebrating: their Eurofighters, which sensationally won the UEFA Cup 25 years ago and made the greatest success in the club’s history perfect. The team around coach of the century Huub Stevens met on the lawn for the anniversary, the fans sang about the legendary journey through Europe.
Büskens, himself part of the 1997 squad, has been busy with the current Schalke. The 54-year-old switched to two positions compared to the emotional 2-1 win in Sandhausen and brought Thomas Ouwejan and Dominick Drexler back into the starting XI. His opponent Timo Schultz had to replace half a dozen players after the Corona outbreak last Sunday.
The two coaches almost saw the first goal after 32 seconds, but Terodde failed to save Dennis Smarsch. St. Pauli’s keeper also saved against Marius Bülter (5th). On the other hand, the first shot was a hit: Matanovic completed the first, largely undisturbed Hamburg attack with the lead.
Schalke goalkeeper Martin Fraisl gave the guests the 2-0: The keeper, who had recently been noticed repeatedly with dropouts, made a catastrophic bad pass in the build-up of the game, which Matanovic used. Schalke responded and celebrated – too early: Ko Itakura’s supposed equalizer was preceded by a handball by the Japanese (23′). Then Terodde shot defender Jakov Medic on the goal line from two meters (33′).
Only a few seconds after the restart, Medic Terodde tore in the penalty area, the second division record scorer scored from the penalty spot. After that, Schalke, driven by the fans, stormed with the courage of desperation. Terodde used a template from Darko Churlinov to his 171st second division goal. Zalazar finally turned the arena into a madhouse.
The voices:
Mike Büskens (Trainer FC Schalke 04): “I said to the lads at half-time: That was the best first half we’ve played.”
Ko Itakura (FC Schalke 04): “I’m going to drink a lot of beer today – but actually I don’t like beer.”
The tweet about the game:
Today’s victory meant much more than just three points, but also a return to the German top flight after a year’s break. Good news for German football!
That was noticeable: Zalazar the hero at Schalke
It came as a surprise that the in-form Zalazar was not allowed to start the game. After all, the Uruguayan played a key role in the Royal Blues’ success today. Next to the goal, Schalke almost had an assist, but Churlinov’s goal was disallowed. Particularly explosive: Zalazar, who also scored in the first leg, played for the Kiezkicker last season.
Statistics: 4
This was not rewarded with points, but after the last four guest appearances at Schalke without a goal of their own, FC St. Pauli managed to score one or even two goals. The last time was in 1978, when Franz Gerber shot himself up the scorer list in a 4-1 defeat.
(with SID)
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