Schalke claim friendly victory over Aue
| Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) |
Schalke picked up their first victory of pre-season as they overcame Regionalliga side Erzgebirge Aue 4-2 away from home, beginning to build momentum ahead of their Bundesliga return.
Miron Muslić named a starting XI that closely resembled the side which secured promotion last season, with summer signing Junior Adamu handed another opportunity to impress from the outset.
The Royal Blues took control of the contest in the first half and headed into the break with a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to a brace from Moussa Sylla, who will be hoping to carry his goalscoring form into the Bundesliga campaign.
As expected, Muslić made wholesale changes at the interval, fielding an entirely different XI for the second half. New arrivals Kevin Müller and Satoshi Tanaka were among those introduced, alongside Adrian Gantenbein, Christian Gomis and Bryan Lasme.
The fresh lineup made an immediate impact, with Gomis and Lasme extending Schalke’s advantage to 4-0. Lasme could have added another but saw his penalty saved. Erzgebirge Aue responded with two goals in the space of ten minutes to reduce the deficit to 4-2 with around 20 minutes remaining, but Schalke comfortably saw out the closing stages to secure the victory.
Schalke now have four more pre-season friendlies scheduled before the start of the competitive campaign. The standout fixture sees them face Serie A side Atalanta in August, two weeks before they begin their DFB-Pokal campaign away to Hallescher FC.
