In a memorable second division match, FC Schalke 04 squandered a 3-0 lead and lost to Darmstadt 98. Coach Karel Geraerts’ team suffered a devastating emotional setback in the 3-5 (3-1) defeat. The Gelsenkirchen team and its coach are slipping deeper and deeper into crisis. Even before the match there had been speculation about Geraerts’ future if he did not win again. Now it will be very close. Darmstadt’s new coach Florian Kohfeldt, on the other hand, managed to achieve a frenetically celebrated first victory in his second match with the Hessians.
Tobias Mohr in the 14th minute, Moussa Sylla (34th) and Ron Schallenberg (39th) gave Schalke an early, seemingly reassuring lead in front of 61,021 spectators. Fraser Hornby (45th+5/handball penalty), hat-trick scorer Isac Lidberg (56th/76th/87th) and Sergio López (90th+7) helped Darmstadt to a sensational comeback with their goals. Darmstadt now has five points, Schalke four after six games.
Schalke initially superior
The hosts got off to a strong start. Schalke were strong in the tackles and had the first chance early on through Sylla. The 24-year-old was stopped by Marcel Schuhen. But the Darmstadt goalkeeper didn’t even get close to the ball when Mohr took a free kick from 17 meters.
With the lead behind them, Schalke initially controlled the game. Darmstadt only became dangerous with long-range shots – and only to a limited extent. The 2-0 was almost a logical result. Sylla poked the ball over the line after it had hit the post. And the Gelsenkirchen team continued to score, not letting a brief power and light outage in the arena throw them off course. Midfielder Schallenberg made it 3-0, but the goal could not be seen on TV channel Sky due to the power outage.
Darmstadt seemed to have already been beaten, but came back furiously. First, Hornby safely converted a handball penalty to make it 1:3. Schalke then had great chances to score a fourth goal, but Darmstadt scored three more times instead: Lidberg had the travelling fans cheering wildly with a hat trick before López put the finishing touches on the game.
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