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Schalkes Suat Serdar in a duel with Danny Latza from FSV Mainz 05
Photo: Guido Kirchner / dpa
In the debut of head coach Dimitrios Grammozis, FC Schalke 04 wrested a 0-0 from neighbors Mainz 05.
This leaves Schalke last in the Bundesliga.
Mainz improved to 16th place for the moment, but can be overtaken by Arminia Bielefeld again on Sunday.
Grammozis, who was introduced to Schalke on Tuesday as the successor to Swiss Christian Gross, surprised with a Bundesliga newcomer in the starting line-up: 18-year-old Kerim Çalhanoğlu defended on the left in the Schalke five-man chain, while captain Sead Kolašinac moved into defensive midfield.
The cousin of ex-Bundesliga professional Hakan Çalhanoğlu, currently under contract with AC Milan, did his job without any major mistakes.
The Mainz team did not make it too difficult for FC Schalke at first: Against the bottom, the Mainz team acted cautiously, only looked for the duels in midfield and waited for Schalke mistakes in the build-up of the game.
So a muddled game developed in which Schalke had the first chance after a corner kick: Can Bozdoğan, who only started shortly before the start of the game for the injured Amine Harit, brought the ball into the middle, Shkodran Mustafi failed with his head on the good reacting Robin Zentner (17th minute)
Mainz became stronger in the last ten minutes and came to the first dangerous finishes: Leandro Barreiro narrowly missed the Schalke goal after a low cross from Danny da Costa (37th), Ádám Szalai flicked the ball from 16 meters just past the right post (42nd minute) .).
In the second half the picture continued from this final phase: Schalke were nervous in their own possession, Mainz put pressure on.
But because the guests also lacked precision on the last pass and in the end, scoring opportunities were rare.
After 70 minutes, Mainz had fired 14 shots, Schalke one - but all Mainz attempts had gone by the gate.
The first offensive Schalke sign of life after the break was ex-Mainz Suat Serdar, who forced Hundreds to parry with a shot from the second row (81st).
In return, the Mainz team came through Jonathan Burkardt and Robert Glatzel to two chances within a few seconds (82nd), Frederik Rönnow in the Schalker Tor was allowed to excel for the first time.
In the closing stages, the Mainz team were closer to the winning goal, but the draw remained in the duel between the relegation candidates.
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