2-0 in Bochum: Bizarre own goal makes Schalke happy

Dhe jubilation of Thomas Reis was very reserved after he had managed a coup with his Schalke team that seemed almost impossible just a few weeks ago. The coach clenched his fist briefly, high-fived a few people from his club and put on a face that showed no emotion. He and his players had just clinched an extremely important victory that saw the club move from bottom of the table for the first time in more than four months.

But Reis, who worked for VfL in various roles for many years, seemed to have sympathy for the losers. “Even if you don’t believe it, you have respect for the employer you’ve worked for for a long time,” he said. He’s probably glad that this week, in which he was the center of attention because of his past, is now over for the time being.

Before the game, all eyes were on the 49-year-old coach, who once played for Bochum, led the club to the Bundesliga in 2021 and managed to stay in the first division there a year later. That he is now employed by the rival from the neighboring town has so angered some people that they have painted a large banner insulting Reis. “If you’re not a dishonorable bastard, then who are you?” read the poster, which was removed before kick-off.

“Now we’re back inside”

And maybe Reis will still do a little cheering dance when he’s no longer being watched by thousands of people. At least he had reason to. The royal blue district club has won away from home for the first time after 38 Bundesliga games without a win. Schalke is the only Bundesliga club besides BVB that has not yet lost in the second half of the season and, with just one goal in five games in the second half of the season, has the best defense in this season season phase.

“At the moment it’s looking a lot better than a few weeks ago, we were written off, now we’re back in,” said attacker Marius Bülter about his amazing Schalke, who were one of four clubs at the bottom of the table after the final whistle all have 19 points. Neither VfL nor Schalke 04 played particularly well.

Especially before the break, long balls kept flying through midfield, which either didn’t arrive at all or weren’t brought under control by the addressee. Not even the intensity was particularly high, so only two scenes from the first half were really worth remembering: Very early in the game, Bochum’s Philipp Hofmann had an incredibly good chance to score when a cross pass reached him three meters from the goal, Schalke’s keeper Fährmann was already beaten . But the attacker managed the complicated feat of sliding the ball over the crossbar (7th minute).

And on the other hand, Manuel Riemann fabricated a bizarre own goal. The Bochum goalkeeper initially flew past a high ball from Rodrigo Zalazar before attempting to ward off the danger in the throng, he steered the ball from close range with his right upper arm into his own goal to make it 0-1 (45′). It was a very fortunate lead for Schalke, Reis also conceded: “Bochum’s duels were a bit more rigorous. You have to say that the chances in the first half went somewhere to VfL.”

After the break, the game was a little better structured, probably because the roles were distributed more clearly. Bochum had to attack more because they were behind and Schalke were able to counterattack. Goal scenes remained rare. “We want to see you fight,” chanted the VfL fans in the middle of the second half, because Schalke were only slightly ahead, but somehow seemed to have everything under control. And because their club had slipped to the bottom of the table in the lightning table, where they will still be in the coming days.

Schalke just played a bit more stable and were now more dangerous. Substitute Simon Terodde had a very good chance, but failed with a header at Riemann (78′) before the corner that followed led to the 0:2. In an obviously rehearsed variant, Zalazar played the ball low into the penalty area, where Bülter appeared and scored from eleven meters.

For a few moments there was still hope for VfL when Keven Schlotterbeck scored the goal (83′), but he had just been offside, which is why the video assistant took the goal back. “We missed a big chance today,” said Bochum coach Thomas Letsch, who, after a good series of five home wins in a row, has now lost the third competitive game in a row in front of his home crowd.