Schalke and Frankfurt fire blanks in battling draw

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FC Schalke 04 are now without a win in five games in all competitions after a 0-0 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday evening.

Eintracht Frankfurt 0-0 FC Schalke 04

In a slow-burning encounter, a tepid first half served as a warm-up to a gripping second 45 minutes. Both teams failed to click early on as thundering challenges in midfield broke up the flow of the play. A sweeping cross-field pass from Marco Fabian that was met with a bold volley inside the box by Marc Stendera was the highlight before the break, even if Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann was able to save comfortably.

The gloves came off after the interval, with openings gradually appearing as the match wore on. Alex Meier drew another fine stop from Fährmann with a powerful header, while Fabian’s pace and directness in the final third regularly proved troublesome to the visitors. Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter brought on Leroy Sane, Max Meyer and Franco Di Santo to shake his attack into life, but it was Frankfurt who looked more likely to score in the closing stages of a game that ultimately ended goalless.

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Man of the match

Fährmann earned his side a point here, making a number of decent stops to preserve a clean sheet.

Talking point

Frankfurt have only taken three points from the last 15 available and must win again soon to avoid an unwanted relegation struggle. 

Match stats

    Fährmann made his 100th Bundesliga appearance in this game. Frankfurt have now drawn their last two league games 0-0; they will have to wait a while longer to score their 2,500th Bundesliga goal. The Eagles had 11 shots on goal to Schalke’s seven.

Line-ups

Frankfurt: Hradecky – Hasebe, Zambrano (Regäsel 71’), Abraham, Oczipka – Stendera (Medojevic 87’), Russ – Fabian, Meier (c), Huszti (Kittel 87’) - Seferovic

Schalke: Fährmann – Riether, Matip, Neustädter, Aogo – Geis, Höjbjerg – Caicara (Meyer 62’), Belhanda (Sane 67’), Kolasinac – Huntelaar (c) (Di Santo 75’)