Terodde strike fires Schalke past Mainz

Schalke 1-0 Mainz
Goals: 1-0 Terodde 10' (assist: Kral)

After seven defeats in a row in Germany's top tier, there was really only one result that would steady the Schalke ship ahead of the upcoming visit of Bayern Munich. A second victory of the season, and a first under recently appointed coach Thomas Reis, was the order of the day in front of Schalke's patient home fans. Striker Terodde provided the perfect start. Alex Kral had the masses on their feet when he won possession on the right and struck a well-hit a cross. They were delirious when Terodde then made his way towards the target before drilling in off the post after just 10 minutes. Kral and Marius Bülter later spurned chances to increase Die Knappen's lead.

Mainz may have come into this game on the back of successive defeats, yet Bo Svensson's men were making a good fist of it in terms of their place in the table. Having taken 12 points from a possible 21 on the road, the 05ers could have been expected to add to that tally against the basement boys. Schalke should have put paid to those visiting hopes after the break when Kenan Karaman headed a Terodde pass close enough to Robin Zentner for the latter to make a save. A Jonathan Burkardt flash across the face of goal was as good as it got for Mainz, while Bülter spurned an excellent opportunity to wrap things up when he rounded Zentner only to find the post from a tight angle. The miss would matter little for the home side in the end, with bottom side Schalke holding on for what could yet prove to be an invaluable victory.

• Schalke's two wins this season have both come at home. The Royal Blues beat Bochum 3-1 in September.
• Terodde scored his third goal of the campaign to equal the total of his last stint in the Bundesliga: the 2019/20 season with Cologne.
• Die Knappen have won seven of their nine points at the Veltins Arena.
• For the first time this season, Schalke scored in the opening quarter of an hour of a game.
• Terodde had most shots on goal (3) during this Matchday 14 fixture.

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Schalke: Schwolow - Brunner (Aydin 89'), Matriciani, Yoshida, Mohr - Kral, Krauß - Karaman (Latza 72'), Mollet (Drexler 46'), Bülter - Terodde (c) (Polter 84')
Unused subs: Heekeren, Kolodziejczak, Flick, Sane, Larsson
Out: Cisse (muscular), Fährmann (muscular), Greiml (meniscus), Kaminski (calf), Ouwejan (knee), van den Berg (ankle), Zalazar (metatarsal)
Coach: Thomas Reis

Mainz: Zentner - Fernandes, Hack (Bell 32'), Caci - Da Costa (Widmer 74'), Stach, Kohr (c), Lee (Burkardt 46'), Aaron (Fulgini 59') - Ingvartsen (Barreiro 74'), Onisiwo
Unused subs: Dahmen, Barkok, Tauer, Burgzorg
Out: Leitsch (exhaustion), Mustapha (thigh)
Coach: Bo Svensson