Coach Dimitrios Grammozis made his Schalke debut with a 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga against Mainz on Friday as both teams struggle in the fight against relegation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There was little action in a first half that featured defensive tactics and a lot of duels.
After a great chance for Schalke in the 18th minute with Shkodran Mustafi, Mainz came up better in the final minutes ahead of the break, but weren't very dangerous.
The second half saw more of the same and the teams saved the action for the last 10 minutes of the match.
Schalke's Suat Serdar curled a shot at the goal in the 81st minute and goalkeeper Robin Zenter was able to make a difficult save.
One minute later Jonathan Burkardt's effort inside the box was brilliantly denied by Schalke keeper Frederik Roennow.
Mainz temporarily move up to 16th, into the relegation play-off spot and have now the same 18 points as Hertha Belin, the first team out of the drop zone. Schalke remained bottom of the table with 10 points.
"We dominated the game, kept Schalke in their own half, played a very, very good game. Sadly we weren't rewarded with the goal," Mainz defender Stefan Bell said.
Dominik Kohr said they lacked "a bit of luck."
Grammozis is Schalke's fifth coach this season following David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Huub Stevens and Christian Gross, who was dismissed last Sunday.
Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac said: "We can be happy with the point, but it's of course not enough.
"We changed the system but that can take a bit of time."
Schalke have only one league win this season after going 30 games without victory, narrowly avoiding equalling Tasmania Berlin's record 31 games without victory when they beat Hoffenheim 4-0 in January.
Australian Associated Press
