Schalke slip to defeat in Salzburg
FC Schalke 04 were unable to make it a clean sweep of UEFA Europa League Group I victories after a much-changed side lost 2-0 away to RB Salzburg on Thursday evening.
RB Salzburg 2-0 FC Schalke 04
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Goals: 1-0 Schlager (22'), 2-0 Radosevic (90+4')
Having won their first five group matches, Schalke were already assured of top spot and a place in the round of 32. As such, head coach Markus Weinzierl made several changes to his side, opting to rest a number of first-team regulars ahead of their crunch Bundesliga Matchday 14 meeting with Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Sunday. The Royal Blues started well, but fell behind in the 22nd minute when Xaver Schlager pounced from close range.
Schalke increased the pressure in the second half as they sought to progress to the knockout rounds with an unbeaten record. However, try as they might they could not create many gilt-edged chances, with a header from Donis Avdijaj that went narrowly over as close as the visitors came to scoring. Salzburg doubled their lead in stoppage time on when Josip Radosevic was able to fire into an empty net after goalkeeper Fabian Giefer had gone up for a late corner.
