Defeat at Schalke

In the Saturday evening match of the 14th match day, VfB suffered a 3-0 loss at FC Schalke 04. After a decent first half, VfB conceded a second goal directly after the re-start making it very difficult to get back into the match. The some 4,000 travelling VfB fans ended up seeing a 3-0 defeat for their team.

VfB started the match with one change in comparison to the Gladbach match with Ibrahima Traoré replacing Moritz Leitner on the right side. Thomas Schneider’s team like so often started the match by applying a lot of pressure and had a good push towards the goal, with courage and confidence. FC Schalke found their way into the match after a few minutes and the 62,000 spectators saw an entertaining match.

Schalke take the lead

But the home side increased the pressure more and more against VfB. Stuttgart had keeper Sven Ulreich to thank that it was still 0-0 on the scoreboard after 20 minutes as he made a nice save on Adam Szalai in the 18th minute. VfB had the best chance in the early going as Vedad Ibisevics won the ball in the midfield and passed forward to Alexandru Maxim for a pass to Timo Werner, whose shot rolled just inches wide of the left post in the 31st minute.

The ball was in the back of the net just three minutes later at the other end. The VfB defence failed to pay attention to Jefferson Farfan, who struck the ball well and scored despite Ulreich getting his hand on the ball for a 1-0 Schalke lead after 34 minutes. The Schalke advantage was not undeserved but VfB also had their scoring opportunities in the first half. Just before the first half whistle, Christian Gentner fed Vedad Ibisevic, whose attempt was blocked away, leaving VfB down 1-0 at the break.