Schalke 04 also wins against Darmstadt, but loses Christian Gomis in the process. He is not the only striker currently sidelined.
It was a short and unfortunate working day for Christian Gomis on Friday evening at the Veltins Arena. Schalke 04 celebrated their 1-0 victory over Darmstadt 98 and their lead in the 2nd Bundesliga, with chants of “Spitzenreiter” (leaders) echoing through the arena. But the striker could only limp along with the celebrations. Gomis had to be substituted due to injury in the final stages (85th minute),
just 20 minutes after entering the field. Whether Gomis’ injury is serious and whether he will miss Wednesday’s DFB Cup rematch against Darmstadt (8:45 p.m.) was unclear shortly after the end of the game. Coach Miron Muslic reported that it was a muscle injury. “We’ll know more on Saturday.”
The summer signing scored his first goal for S04 in Hannover last weekend and would have had a good chance of a place in the starting lineup against Darmstadt – if he hadn’t already been injured during the week. Otherwise, Gomis could have replaced his attacking colleague Christopher Antwi-Adjei, who Schalke will have to do without for the time being.
Instead, Muslic filled the position alongside Kenan Karaman and behind striker Moussa Sylla with Janik Bachmann. It wasn’t the first time the defensive midfielder had played in this attacking role. But Bachmann struggled against Darmstadt and was rarely able to make his physical presence felt. He was substituted after 64 minutes.
He can expect another good chance of starting in the cup if Gomis is not fit in time. There are few other options in the absence of Antwi-Adjei and Gomis: Emil Höjlund is out indefinitely, and Peter Remmert is making progress after weeks on the sidelines with injury and is set to return to action with the U23s this weekend. However, he is not yet a fully-fledged alternative for Wednesday. The substitution of Mika Wallentowitz against Darmstadt showed just how thin the squad is in attack at the moment. The 17-year-old replaced the injured Gomis in the closing stages and made his professional debut.
“Of course, it hurts when players are unavailable, especially in such an intense phase,” said Muslic, referring to the English week, which leads to Karlsruher SC after the cup game in Darmstadt (Saturday, 1 p.m.). “You need guys who are fit, and you also need a certain depth in the squad.” Now it’s a matter of waiting and seeing. “We will still field a strong team that will demand everything from Darmstadt,” announced the S04 coach.
Not only is Schalke’s own personnel situation exciting, they will also be keeping a close eye on the situation at Darmstadt. The “Lilien” had to do without their top striker Isac Lidberg on Friday evening. The Swede, who has already scored eight goals in nine games, was absent due to illness. His absence was clearly noticeable in SVD’s harmless attack on Schalke.
However, Darmstadt coach Florian Kohfeldt was confident about Lidberg’s comeback on Wednesday. “He’s a little ill, but it’s nothing serious. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to travel here and sit on the bench for 15 minutes.”