Bundesliga
Schalke enjoyed their maiden victory of the campaign against a Bochum side still waiting for their first points after Dominick Drexler and Sebastian Polter goals combined with a crucial Erhan Masovic own goal for the victorious Miners.
Schalke 3-1 Bochum
Goals: 1-0 Drexler 38', 1-1 Zoller 51', 2-1 Masovic (o.g. 73'), 3-1 Polter 90'+6 (assist: Mohr)
By the time the mini Revierderby kicked off at the Veltins Arena, these sides occupied the bottom two places in the Bundesliga. The urgency for a first win of the campaign was thus palpable among home and away fans. Schalke striker Simon Terodde previously scored 47 goals in 72 appearances for Bochum and the much-travelled 34-year-old proved chief tormentor to his former side in the early stages. Visiting goalkeeper Manuel Riemann was called into action on two key occasions to deny Schalke's captain before Tom Krauß took over shooting duties with an effort that arced wide. Bochum's cause wasn't helped when Takuma Asano was forced out of the contest with an injury in the opening minutes. Thomas Reis's team still carried a punch, however, and might have gone ahead after Alexander Schwolow spilled substitute Gerrit Holtmann's drive only for Vasilios Lampropoulos to sky the loose ball. The game's opener arrived in similar circumstances at the other end. Marius Bülter's speculative shot saw Riemann fumble straight to Drexler whose first-time effort found the corner.
Bochum boasted the oldest-ever average starting line-up in the Bundesliga for this game. As one of the members of the team's thirty-plus club, Simon Zoller was his side's top scorer this season with two previous goals to his name. The forward didn't know a huge amount about his third - the ball striking him on the line after Gerrit Holtmann and Philipp Hofmann previously combined to send a strike at the target - but Zoller nonetheless celebrated with glee after VfL's equaliser was given the all clear following a VAR check. Bochum's lengthy goal drought of 397 minutes may have ended there, but it only fuelled Schalke's thirst for a winner. The Royal Blues rattled the crossbar via Terodde before substitute Rodrigo Zalazar drew a two-handed save from Riemann. There was a sense of the inevitable among the home fans and they were on their feet when Tobias Mohr's whipped ball into the area from a set piece was diverted into the net by the unfortunate Masovic. A Polter header was the injury-time icing on the cake as Frank Kramer's side picked up their first three-pointer.
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Schalke: Schwolow – Matriciani, van den Berg, Yoshida, Mohr – Flick, Krauß (Greiml 87') - Larsson (Zalazar 57'), Drexler (Polter 68'), Bülter - Terodde (c) (Karaman 87')
Unused subs: Fährmann, Ouwejan, Aydin, Král, Latza
Out: Brunner (muscular issue), Kaminski (calf), Sane (match fitness)
Coach: Frank Kramer
Bochum: Riemann – Gamboa (Janko 46'), Masovic, Lampropoulos, Soares (Ganvoula 85') – Losilla (c), Förster (Osei-Tutu 77') - Zoller (Osterhage 77'), Stöger, Asano (Holtmann 4') - Hofmann
Unused subs: Esser, Horn, Ordets, Antwi-Adjei
Out: Goralski (muscular), Grave (shoulder), Heintz (muscular), Stafylidis (muscular)
Coach: Thomas Reis
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