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Kenan Karaman: I was 100% sure I was going to score
Kenan Karaman’s goal against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on Saturday (February 17th) secured a second successive 1-0 home win for Schalke. “I’m glad I was able to give something back to the fans,” says the 29-year-old, who also scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig two weeks ago.
On this occasion the striker scored not from open play, but from the penalty spot. When referee Denis Aytekin awarded a penalty on the hour mark, there was no doubt in Karaman’s mind that he was going to take the spot-kick. “I was 100% sure I was going to score,” reveals the Royal Blues’ top scorer in the current campaign.
He was keenly aware that a goal against one of Schalke’s direct competitors in the bottom half of the table would be an extremely important one, but, as Karaman explains, “I can handle pressure very well. After all, I’ve always made it clear that I want to keep pushing forwards. That’s what I did in that situation as well.”
I can handle pressure very well.
Karaman is happy with the reaction the team showed after their disappointing performance at Kiel. “It wasn’t an easy situation,” reports the Turkey international. “But we showed character – even if we didn’t get everything right on the pitch. It wasn’t a spectacular performance in terms of our play, but in our current circumstances the most important thing is the result. We’ll gladly take a scrappy win.”
The attacker hopes the weekend’s success will provide a boost to the team’s confidence ahead of the Royal Blues’ away game at Magdeburg. “We now have to maintain the energy we showed on Saturday. If we can win in Magdeburg as well, the three points against Wiesbaden will be doubly valuable,” says Karaman. The reverse fixture at the VELTINS-Arena ended in a 4-3 victory for Schalke.
