Kenan Karaman: The simple goals are the most beautiful

“Recent weeks haven’t been easy,” said Kenan Karaman, referring to his side’s recent run of five 2. Bundesliga games without a win. “To come out of that run like this shows that the team works,” emphasised Schalke’s captain, who described Sunday’s game as “an extremely important away win.”

Karaman played a key role in securing victory on Sunday. From an Adil Aouchiche corner, Timo Becker glanced a header on and the ball fell to Edin Džeko, who brilliantly laid the ball off to Karaman. Schalke’s captain just had to tap the ball home from a few yards out to open the scoring after 16 minutes. “You can see all his class in that goal,” said Karaman, praising Džeko’s assist. “I was actually supposed to block the goalkeeper, but the ball fell perfectly to me and I just had to tap it in. Those simple goals are the most beautiful,” said the attacker on scoring his eighth goal of the season.

Straight from the training ground

Hasan Kuruçay then doubled the Royal Blues’ advantage after another Aouchiche corner and another Džeko flick-on. “We know that Adil is great from set pieces. Edin is also very strong in the air. That’s exactly how we practiced it during the week and I’m very pleased for us that it worked so well twice,” said Karaman.

It was a deserved reward for a strong first-half performance from Schalke, in which they controlled the game. “We went for the second balls, we were very hungry, very aggressive and won possession a lot,” said Karaman. Schalke’s captain had a great chance to make it 3-0 shortly before half time, but referee Florian Lechner decided not to award a penalty, following Karaman’s collision with Kiel goalkeeper Jonas Krumrey. “The goalkeeper came out, I cut inside and he makes contact with me. I don’t know why a penalty wasn’t given,” said Karaman. The forward didn’t need to dwell on the decision too much, as his side held on to take all three points.

There were worries that a repeat of last week’s game against Dynamo Dresden was on the cards, as the hosts pulled a goal back through David Zec. Ron Schallenberg was deemed to have fouled Jonas Therkelsen in the area, with Zec converting the resulting penalty. Unlike last weekend’s match, Schalke saw the rest of the game out without conceding again. “We defended well and learned from the last game,” said Karaman. He did admit that the penalty incident was avoidable, as the ball could have been cleared earlier.

Schalke stay strong

It was a close game right up until the final whistle, with the hosts looking dangerous on a couple of occasions. The best chances fell to Phil Harres (72’), whose low shot went just wide, and Ivan Nekic, who saw his effort cleared off the line by Hasan Kuruçay (74’). Apart from John Tolkin’s effort directly from a corner, which Karius was alert in dealing with (77’), the hosts offered very little in the final 15 minutes. The Royal Blues could then celebrate a first victory of 2026 thanks to a determined defensive performance.

Karaman was pleased with his side’s performance, highlighting the team’s togetherness and the winter signings, who have integrated quickly and made the difference against Kiel. “We’ve added quality and players who give us lots of options. The new guys are a real asset for us,” said the captain, who is already looking ahead to the next challenge on Saturday (21/2), with the Royal Blues set to welcome 1. FC Magdeburg to the VELTINS-Arena (20:30 CET). “The win gives us a lot of confidence. We’ll take that with us into the game against Magdeburg.”