The U19s of S04 have defeated 1. FC Cologne. Two players who were at the professional training camp scored the winning goal. No coincidence.

In the nasty Gelsenkirchen drizzle, the U19 of FC Schalke 04 beat 1. FC Cologne in the A-Junior Bundesliga West on Sunday. As was the case four months ago in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup, the team of Schalke coach Norbert Elgert beat the reigning DFB Cup champions 2-1 (1-0) in front of 200 spectators on the neighboring pitch 04.

It was a deserved victory for S04, especially in the second half, in front of Schalke’s assistant coach Mike Büskens. Two players who involuntarily made the headlines during the winter break were instrumental in the decisive scene of the game. Shortly after 1. FC Köln equalized to make it 1-1 through Abdul Malik Yilmaz just after half-time, Max Grüger and Vitalie Becker scored in the 50th minute to give Schalke the win.

Sixer Max Grüger, who took all the set-pieces, curled a corner onto the head of Niklas Barhel. He laid it off to left-back Vitalie Becker. Becker then had no trouble putting the ball into the net from close range in the box with his foot.

It looked rehearsed. And it was. “We’re strong there. That was already our sixth goal from a set piece,” said a delighted Norbert Elgert. “We practised that on Saturday,” he revealed. “If it works then, all the better.”

Grüger and Becker were with the team of coach Karel Geraerts in the winter break in the training camp in Portugal. According to media reports, Elgert is said to have tried to prevent this at least for one of the players. In the meantime, however, the successful coach had cleared up the issue and stated that he explicitly advocated participation.

Despite a number of absences, Cologne put Schalke under a lot of pressure in the first half, but were unable to prevent S04’s early 1-0 through Zaid Amaussau-Tchibara (7th minute). “Mistakes are fully allowed here. What matters is how you deal with them as a player and as a team. And the team did that brilliantly,” said Elgert, who was also pleased with the team’s reaction. ‘They showed good cohesion and got back up.’

With this win, Schalke have extended their lead over 1. FC Cologne to nine points and, with a game in hand, are just one point behind Bayer Leverkusen in third place.