Schalke 04 experienced a turbulent Bundesliga comeback after a year in the second tier. In the 1:3 (0:0) defeat at 1. FC Köln, the use of the VAR led to decisions to the disadvantage of the promoted team in some scenes. In addition, Dominick Drexler saw the red card after 35 minutes after a hard challenge. Meanwhile, the people of Cologne did not let themselves be thrown off course by the fuss surrounding Anthony Modeste. Immediately before the game, the club announced that they had agreed in principle with Borussia Dortmund to transfer the striker. The change will probably take place on Monday.
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The 34-year-old attacker, who scored 20 Bundesliga goals last season, was not in the squad against Schalke. In attack, coach Steffen Baumgart relied on a duo with youngster Jan Thielmann and Florian Dietz, who made his Bundesliga debut. But other professionals provided the goals. Luca Kilian made it 1-0 (49th) shortly after the break, Florian Kainz followed up in the 62nd minute. Dejan Ljubicic made everything clear (80′). The Gelsenkirchen team only managed to catch up temporarily thanks to Marius Bülter coming on as a substitute (76′). Initially, there were many indications that the game was going in the opposite direction.
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Schalke, who started the game with seven signings and without second division record scorer Simon Terodde, thought they were in the lead after ten minutes. Promotion hero Rodrigo Zalazar let the ball rush into the corner of the FC goal with a powerful shot. Problem: Referee Robert Schröder and VAR called the goal back after viewing the video images, as Maya Yoshida blocked the view of Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe in an offside position,
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The next setback followed 25 minutes later. Drexler acted overly motivated at his old place of work and put his sole on Jonas Hector’s calf. The video assistant was used again and Schröder sent Schalke out of the field. In the second round, Cologne capitalized on their numerical superiority. Kilian grabbed the ball over the line after a corner to make it 1-0. Kainz’s goal withstood another VAR check and made it 2-0. After Bülter’s header, things seemed to get exciting again. But Cologne’s Ljubicic had an answer ready and finally decided the encounter.
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