THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Arminia Bielefeld claim three vital points and seal Schalke’s relegation

Bundesliga 2020/21 - Matchday 30: DSC Arminia Bielefeld vs FC Schalke 04

DSC Arminia Bielefeld have claimed three vital points against FC Schalke 04 in a Friday evening Bundesliga encounter. Fabian Klos scored the lone goal of the match at the SchücoArena to seal Schalke’s relegation to Bundesliga 2.

Bottom-placed Schalke, who travelled to Bielefeld with 20 defeats from 29 matches in the on-going 2020/21 season, needed a win to keep their marginal chances alive. But Schalke head coach Dimitrios Grammozis knew that the game would “stretch his boys to the limit” against Arminia Bielefeld who were ranked 15th before the match. His counterpart Frank Kramer had urged his players to be “humble” and to put up a spirited fight against the allegedly underdogs.

The Arminia players didn’t disappoint their coach as they started to dominate proceedings after an anxious first 10 to 15 minutes. Skipper Fabian Klos (13′), Japanese international Ritsu Doan (13′) and Andreas Vogelsammer (29′, 35′) were the ones who had a chance to open the score sheet, but they failed to utilise their opportunities.

Schalke were not able to offer any opposition to Bielefeld’s dynamic and well-executed game. The visitors failed to challenge Bielefeld’s goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno, despite the fact that they had to win the match.

Bielefeld finally broke the deadlock in the second half when Amos Pieper conquered the ball in the Schalke half and set up Fabian Klos. Klos hammered a long-range shot past Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann into the back of the net.

Five minutes later, Manuel Prietl came close to further increase the lead for the hosts, when his deflected shot missed the target narrowly, while Klos also failed to convert a penalty kick in the 80th minute.

Nevertheless, Bielefeld secured a narrow, but richly deserved win to add three more points to their tally in a quest to avoid relegation. In contrast, Schalke have been relegated to Bundesliga 2 following the defeat in Bielefeld. It is their first relegation in 30 years and the fourth relegation in club history.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld 1-0 FC Schalke 04

Goals
1-0 Fabian Klos (50′)

Line-up

DSC Arminia Bielefeld
Ortega Moreno – Brunner (69′ de Medina), Pieper, Nilsson, Lucoqui – Maier, Prietl, Okugawa (85′ Gebauer) – Voglsammer (69′ Soukou), Klos [C] (89′ Schipplock), Doan (85′ van der Hoorn)

FC Schalke 04
Fährmann – Mustafi, Stambouli, Thiaw – Aydin, Kolasinac [C] – Mascarell – Serdar, Harit (78′ Sané) – Pacienca (53′ Uth), Huntelaar

Bookings

Yellow Card
25′ Fabian Klos (DSC Arminia Bielefeld), 39′ Cedric Brunner (DSC Arminia Bielefeld), 53′ Amos Pieper (DSC Arminia Bielefeld), 58′ Malick Thiaw (FC Schalke 04), 64′ Benjamin Stambouli (FC Schalke 04), 90’+1′ Sead Kolasinac (FC Schalke 04), 90’+4′ Salif Sané (FC Schalke 04)

Second Yellow Card
71′ Malick Thiaw (FC Schalke 04)

Match Officials

Referee
Christian Dingert

Assistant Referees
Benedikt Kempkes, Timo Gerach

Fourth Offical
Frederick Assmuth

Video Assistant Referee
Benjamin Cortus

Assistant Video Assistant Referee
Eduard Beitinger