Ralf Fährmann: We defended set pieces badly | OneFootball

Both head coaches spoke to the media after Schalke’s 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on Saturday (6/2). Ralf Fährmann and Shkodran Mustafi also gave their thoughts on the game.

This was a convincing defeat, there’s no two ways about it. Leipzig were the better team. We defended well in the first half and didn’t give them many chances, also having the best opportunity ourselves. We conceded from a set piece right before the break to go 1-0 down – just like the third goal. The second goal killed the game off. We’re lacking fresh legs up front. It was a tough away game in Wolfsburg, but the main reason was that our opponents pressed us high up the pitch today. We struggled to get into the game. We need to improve in the air, as soon as possible.

I’m really pleased with my team’s performance. We played well for the whole 90 minutes. There wasn’t much space in their half in the first period, so it wasn’t easy to create chances. We scored a really important goal on the stroke of half time. Schalke afforded us more space in the second half and we took advantage of that, carving out several good opportunities. We then scored two more nice goals. Overall, it was a deserved victory.

It’s hard to recover from conceding two set-piece goals against a team like Leipzig. We were well organised in the first half, right up until the final seconds. Leipzig had more of the play, but we didn’t allow them many chances. If we can play with real focus and full application, we can still have some hope.

We defended set pieces badly and therefore conceded twice from them. Both goals were unnecessary and set-piece goals can be decisive in games like these. We could have gone 1-0 up in the first half, but instead conceded right before the break and then one goal turned into three. We need to carry on believing in ourselves and show some spirit.