Schalke 04 ran out comfortable 5-0 winners against Hessian Kassel in a Club Friendly at the start of August. The visitors made no mistake in front of goal, while the home side could offer little beyond fragments of play. and here's the thing — you could sense from the first minutes that Schalke had already decided how this would unfold.
Karaman opened the scoring in the 36th minute before Adamu doubled the advantage four minutes later. Gosens had already come off the bench in the 15th minute, and by then the home side was chasing shadows. Aouchiche added a third just after the hour mark, and Sylla made it four in the 63rd minute. Tanaka completed the scoring with a seventh-time effort in the 74th minute.
Statistically, the gap between the sides was enormous. Schalke registered 134 attacks against Kassel's 81, and their corners told the same story — 7 to 2. The home side did manage 18 goal kicks and 17 throw-ins, but those numbers meant nothing when the scoreboard kept ticking over.
Kassel's recent form does not inspire confidence. They have lost four of their last five friendlies, including heavy defeats to Dynamo Dresden and Paderborn II. to be fair — Schalke were not flawless either, dropping points against Gütersloh last time out. But this performance suggested a side finding its rhythm at the right moment.
El-Faouzi picked up the only yellow card of the match in the 45th minute, a late protest that changed nothing. Karius came on for Kassel in the 60th minute, while Becker replaced a Schalke player in the 69th. Five goals and one red card would have made for a cleaner sheet, but the away side had already secured what they needed.