The S04 U23s put up a strong fight against Spizenreiter Alemannia Aachen. Schalke coach Jakob Fimpel was disappointed with the result in the end.

FC Schalke 04’s U23s put up a great fight against leaders Alemannia Aachen in front of 1,600 spectators at the Parkstadion on Sunday, but ultimately lost 2:3 (1:1). Coach Jakob Fimpel was disappointed.

The team came back twice, then came the very late knockout in the eighth minute of stoppage time. In the final scene of the game, Aachen’s Anton Heinz fell in the penalty area and referee Timo Gansloweit awarded a penalty.

Schalke coach Fimpel saw the situation like this: “It’s always difficult to see from afar. But it was the last second, it was the last ball in play. And then you know that you only have one chance left and that’s a penalty. And then one falls and then there’s contact. But will that be enough?” Schalke’s coach had his doubts. “That’s madness. The ball flies ten meters over him. Brutally annoying.”

Apart from that, his team didn’t have much to complain about. In Aachen circles afterwards, they spoke of the strongest opponent they had faced in recent times. But in the end, the young Schalke players couldn’t buy anything for that. “We are brutally disappointed. It hurts for the boys because they put up an outstanding fight. To come back twice against the league leaders and also the way they were there for each other and played on a very difficult surface is simply bitter for the boys,” said Fimpel.

They had Aachen on the verge of losing a point. “But that’s soccer sometimes. It hurts now, but we can still build on this performance,” said Fimpel, who was proud of his team’s performance. “We conceded very little. We also had good situations in the first half that we simply threw away.”

One of them belonged to professional loanee Yusuf Kabadayi with a strong individual performance in the first half. In the second half, however, Fimpel took him off the pitch after just five minutes, probably because he was in danger of a red card after a yellow card towards the end of the first half and another foul at the start of the second half