Schalke boss Miron Muslic sees positives despite Hoffenheim defeat

Schalke head coach Miron Muslic says his side produced their best half of Bundesliga football so far despite losing 2-1 to TSG Hoffenheim.

The hosts took control before half-time, with Fisnik Asllani opening the scoring in the 10th minute. Tim Lemperle extended Hoffenheim’s advantage 16 minutes later, leaving Schalke with a difficult task after the break.

Schalke’s problems deepened six minutes into the second half when starting goalkeeper Loris Karius was forced off in the 51st minute. Kevin Muller replaced him.

The visitors eventually found a route back into the match when substitute Junior Adamu pulled a goal back in the 81st minute. Schalke continued to press for an equaliser, but Hoffenheim held on during a tense finish.

Vladimir Coufal and Mats Rots were central to a determined defensive effort from the hosts, who made 50 clearances to protect their lead.

Muslic said Schalke had begun the match positively after switching to a back four, but had failed to turn promising moments into goals.

“We started brightly and the first ten minutes saw us winning possession just as we wanted to after making the change to a back-four, which allows us to have an additional player in attack,” he said.

“We had two or three big chances where we should have opened the scoring. An error then led to us conceding. The second goal we let in was even more unnecessary, as we had several opportunities to put in a tackle. We didn’t manage to do that and TSG then punished us with their individual quality.”

Schalke were also disrupted by injuries to Robin Gosens and Karius early in the second half. Despite those setbacks, Muslic felt his team responded with its strongest performance since returning to the Bundesliga.

“Despite the shock we suffered early in the second half through the injuries to Robin Gosens and Loris Karius, we managed to play our best half of football in the Bundesliga so far,” Muslic said.

“We worked incredibly hard and created a lot of shots. We were able to cut the deficit and wanted to complete a comeback. Collectively, we did everything we could and would have deserved a point.”

The Schalke manager acknowledged that his team had endured a difficult spell, but said the latest setbacks would provide an opportunity for improvement.

“We’ve been confronted with some tough setbacks lately, but that’s just what things are like at Schalke. We will grow and learn from them.”