Edin Terzic bemoaned the way Borussia Dortmund were drawn into a “wild” Revierderby after Schalke twice came from behind to damage their rivals’ title hopes in a dramatic 2-2 draw.
Dortmund were chasing a club record ninth consecutive Bundesliga win when they faced their fierce rivals on Saturday, having played their way into contention with Bayern Munich at the summit.
While Nico Schlotterbeck’s 38th-minute drive put them in the ascendency, Marius Buelter restored parity before Kenan Karaman did likewise after Raphael Guerreiro struck on the hour mark.
The result ended a run of four consecutive Revierderby wins for Dortmund, who sit two points adrift at the top of the table after Bayern’s thrilling 5-3 win over Augsburg earlier on Saturday.
Speaking after the draw, Terzic said Schalke had succeeded in dragging Dortmund into an end-to-end contest, which worked to the relegation-threatened hosts’ advantage.
“We said before the game that there were two options,” Terzic said.
“[Either] we get involved with Schalke’s emotional and passionate game, and then it gets tight. Or we stay clear and try to win the game with football.
“We showed that in the first half. We had a lot of good phases there, in which we controlled both the ball and the opponent. We were able to create a lot of clear chances.
“We stopped that in the second half and then it got wild – just like Schalke wanted it to be. In the end we gave up the win and go home with a draw.”
The draw means Schalke and Dortmund remain the only two Bundesliga teams to have gone unbeaten since the mid-season break, with Thomas Reis’ men just one point adrift of safety after a run of seven games without defeat.