U19s still in running after late defeat

It could hardly be more dramatic. With one match to play in the U19 Bundesliga West, the Werkself U19s lost 2-1 with the winner coming in added time and they are now third in the table. That would not be enough to qualify for the German Championship semi-finals.

Exciting last matchday on the cards

In the battle with Schalke 04 (56 points, away to Wuppertal) and Borussia Dortmund (55 points, away to Duisburg) the U19s (53 points) are still mathematically in with a chance of securing one of the top two spots ahead of the final game of the season against Viktoria Köln on Saturday (13.00 CET, Ulrich Haberland Stadium).

"Of course, we'll give 100 per cent again and play our part to see if that might be enough," said U19 coach Iraklis Metaxas after the dramatic closing stages at Gelsenkirchen.

Impressive Schalke start

Equal on points but below Bayer 04 with a worse goal difference before the match, Schalke definitely needed a win. And the hosts were first out of the blocks in front of 800 fans.

"Schalke played a lot of long balls and were very aggressive down the flanks early on. We didn't really deal with that properly," admitted coach Markus von Ahlen.

In the game

The Royal Blues took a not undeserved lead on 16 minutes. "Then we found our rhythm and gradually got back into the game," said von Ahlen.

A foul on Sam Schreck in the box gave Leverkusen the chance to level and Tim Handwerker made no mistake from the penalty spot on 27 minutes.

Chances to take lead

The U19s stayed in the game and had really good chances to go ahead through Jakub Bednarczyk and Güven Yalcin. Schalke threw everything into attack in the closing stages.

"The lads stood firm and tried everything," declared Metaxas. Just as it looked like the match would end all square, Schalke scored from an individual effort to make it 2-1 on 92 minutes.

Schalke have moved up to top spot as Borussia Dortmund suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to RW Oberhausen.

Match stats:

FC Schalke 04 U19: Weiner - Hemmerich, Czyborra (Halbauer 80’), Wiemann (Karakas 59’), Chana Nya, Fleckstein (Taitague 65’), McKennie, Kübler, Wright, Boujellab (Kutucu 72’), Goller.

Bayer 04 U19: Prinz -Nesseler, Rhein, Harenbrock (Osawe 81’), Handwerker, Yalcin, Shala, Bednarczyk, Abu Hanna, Stanilewicz, Schreck (Grym 89’).

Goals: 1-0 Goller (16’), 1-1 Handwerker (27’ pen.), 2-1 Goller (92’).

Booked: Boujalleb, Czyborra - Rhein.

Referee: Heien (Lüttingen).

Attendance: 800.

NEXT U19 GAMES:

Competition	Opponent	Venue	Date	Kick-off
Bundesliga	Viktoria Köln	H	06.05.	13:00