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Loris Karius: Not a pretty win, but an important one
FC Schalke 04’s 1-0 victory over Preußen Münster on Friday night (28/2) was largely down to the performance of debutant Loris Karius. The 31-year-old January signing made a number of impressive saves on his first appearance for the club to keep a vital clean sheet. The visitors registered an xG value of 2.0, underlining how well Karius played.
Karius’ last competitive match was over a year ago – 371 days to be exact – for Newcastle United in February 2024. The goalkeeper has endured some difficult times since then: “I’ve suffered a lot but I never gave up, always worked hard on myself and I was certain that I would get my reward for that in the end,” explained Karius after the game. “It wasn’t a perfect performance and there was room for improvement, but it was a solid enough debut.”
Playing in front of 60,000 fans here is an experience you simply have to enjoy.
The keeper’s lack of match practice was certainly not noticeable at any point during his debut. He was quick off his line in the fifth minute to head a long ball to safety well outside his box and then made an excellent stop with his legs to deny Joshua Mees with a quarter of an hour played. The shot-stopper continued his heroics after the break, keeping out David Kinsombi’s overhead kick (71’) and then producing multiple saves at the death to preserve Schalke’s lead (89’).
The triple save late on was celebrated almost as loudly as Pape Meïssa Ba’s winning goal moments before by the home fans at the VELTINS-Arena. Karius’ teammates were also quick to rush over to thank their goalkeeper. “That moment showed the togetherness of the squad and what the win meant to the lads and me at the end,” reflected the 31-year-old. “I just did my job and paid back the faith shown in me by the club.”
Goalkeeper coach Stephan Loboué informed the keepers on Wednesday about the decision to play Karius. “I just looked to prepare myself as best I could for the game and to take confidence from training so that I went into the match feeling good. Playing in front of 60,000 fans here is an experience you simply have to enjoy,” Karius said. “Winning the game made it a successful day all round. I’m most of all happy for the team because it was an important win, even if it wasn’t a pretty one.”
Although Karius was pleased with the success of Friday night, he was quick to turn his attention to the future. “There are plenty of things that we can improve on. Not everything always works when you’re going through a difficult period. I think it was clear that we were a little bit anxious at the start of the game.” The victory over Münster should hopefully give the players a welcome confidence boost, while Karius also believes he can get better too. “There are a number of scenarios in a game that you can’t simulate properly in training, but I’ll prepare myself for them as best I can.” Up next for Karius and S04 is a trip to the capital to play Hertha BSC next Saturday.
