Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The 6,000 travelling Borussia Dortmund supporters chanted Jadon Sancho’s name with gusto as the English teenager was substituted.
Ten minutes earlier, after exchanging a clever return pass with Raphael Guerreiro, the English teenager had calmly slotted the ball underneath goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann to score the winner in the Revierderby and give Dortmund their first victory in Gelsenkirchen since 2013.
Sancho’s sixth goal of the season didn’t just extend Dortmund’s unbeaten start to the season; it also put them 22 points clear of their struggling neighbours down in 13th.
But the difference between the two rivals is arguably even greater than the numerical gap suggests – and the Sancho’s performance embodied that, especially in the first half.
Starting on the left of a front three alongside Paco Alcacer and fellow teenager Jacob Bruun Larsen, the 18-year-old radiated confidence. After 15 minutes, a winding run took him across the edge of the penalty area but he opted to shoot rather than pass to Delaney in space.
Ten minutes later, he twisted Bastian Oczipka’s blood inside out on the right-hand side – the Schalke full-back will be having nightmares for weeks. And when captain Marco Reus’ tireless endeavour took him out of position on occasion, Sancho had the tactical awareness to drop inside and fill in in midfield.
But as half-time approached, both Sancho and Dortmund started to run out of ideas. Alcacer, starting only his second Bundesliga game despite having scored eight goals off the bench this season, was far from his lethal best. Perhaps Mario Götze would have been a better option to break down the disciplined Royal Blue defence.
Because that’s all Schalke really offered. Domenico Tedesco’s side, who finished second last season, have now only scored 15 goals in 14 Bundesliga games – and five of those came in one game against relegation candidates Nuremberg.
And the 32-year-old’s attacking options were limited ahead of the 174th Revierderby with Breel Embolo, Mark Uth and Franco Di Santo all injured. American youngster Weston McKennie started in an unfamiliar striking role alongside Guido Burgstaller, who came closest for Schalke when his close-range effort was stopped on the line by Roman Bürki but then also had to be substituted.
It took a Daniel Caliguiri penalty, awarded by VAR after Reus had fouled Amine Harit in the box, to draw Schalke level. But they have nothing like the creativity and guile up front that Sancho offers Dortmund.
Before making way for Christian Pulisic, the teenager turned to clap the Dortmund fans who continued to chant his name. The yellow half of the Ruhr region has a new derby hero.
Schalke fans test ‘safe’ pyro
After breaking the bank to produce a breath-taking, €22,000 joint display against their friends from Nuremberg at their last home game, the Ultras Gelsenkirchen opted for a much simpler motif against their Ruhr rivals, but it was no less effective.
Two huge sheets were unfurled to cover both tiers of the Nordkurve, blue in the upper, white in the lower, with a banner in the middle with a message for their players: “Fight for us and our colours.”
Clouds of white smoke billowed out from the lower tier, accompanied by a comforting announcement from the stadium PA, informing fans that the smoke being used was not harmful and had been checked and authorised by the club.
Elsewhere in Germany, Werder Bremen have also confirmed that they are open to discussing the use of so-called “cold pyro” which has been developed in Denmark and generates a flame which is cool enough to pass your hand through it.
