Despite dominating the game in almost every aspect, Schalke 04 couldn't find a crucial second goal against a stubborn SV Darmstadt 98 side.
Schalke secured an impressive 3-0 win away to Werder Bremen on the opening matchday and had given André Breitenreiter the perfect start to life at the Veltins-Arena. Only the injured Matija Nastasic missed out on making it an unchanged starting eleven, Roman Neustädter was the man to take his place.
The Lilies almost got their season off to the perfect start but were eventually held by Hannover last Saturday. They made just two changes to the side that gave a mighty good account of themselves on matchday one, with Damir Vrancic and György Garics replacing Marco Sailer and Florian Jungwirth.
Stunning start for Rausch
The game had begun in less than exciting circumstances, with both sides seeing plenty of the ball. Darmstadt continued to show no fear in coming forward and surprised everyone when they took a shock lead. Konstantin Rausch's curling right-footed effort was magnificent and crept inside the post from 20 yards. His left foot has always been trusty when it came to going forward, though his opposite boot was more than adequate this time around.
Schalke came back with a barrage of shots and wouldn't let up on the Darmstadt goal. Johannes Geis, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Julian Draxler all had powerful attempts blocked or saved by Christian Mathenia, who was continuing his excellent form from last season's promotion campaign.
Schalke level after the break
All their pressure almost went to pot on the half hour, when the visitors were presented with a three-on-one breakaway. Marcel Heller, the hero from last week, brought the ball away with him and found Mario Vrancic. He kept cool to get past the covering Joel Matip but was denied brilliantly by Ralf Fährmann.
Schalke were spurred on at half-time and immediately restored parity. A fantastic ball across the face of goal was met by Julian Draxler, who found the bottom corner with a fine finish. Franco di Santo's cross was inch-perfect, leaving Draxler unmarked to take him the plaudits. That was almost whipped out moments later, however, only for Heller to find the side-netting from a lightning-quick counter.
Late push can't find the winner
Huntelaar headed straight at Mathenia in one of the half's better scoring opportunities, though it as a game that was slowly being broken down into a series of fouls that did neither side any favours. However, the fouls did provide Geis with the chance to showcase his free-kick ability and he was the width of the ball from giving Schalke the lead, only to see his shot cannon back off the bar.
The visitors were forced into some desperate defending to keep the scores level and Aytac Sulu's brave block from Draxler's drive was only further evidence of their commitment.