Kenan Karaman: Want to provide the team with goals and assists

He won the free kick in the run-up to 1-0, scored the second goal himself, and provided the assist for the third goal of the evening: Kenan Karaman was involved in every goal scored at the VELTINS Arena on Saturday (05/08) against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. “The game went really well for me”, said the 29-year-old. “But what’s more important is that we can look back on a successful evening with regards to our team performance. The three points were vital for not only the league table, but also for our winning mentality following the loss against Hamburg.”

2. Bundesliga

06.08.23, 12:13

The attacker almost slotted away a fourth goal against the Red Devils. Just prior to the half time whistle, he narrowly missed the opponent’s net after a free-kick cross from Thomas Ouwejan. “I’m frustrated with myself. I talked about this moment at half-time. If I had managed to make it 2-0, we would’ve been on the front foot for the rest of the game”, Karaman remarked.

Karaman-Lasme combination play leads to success on two occasions

The Turkey international had more success in the 70th minute, when he only needed to tap the ball over the line thanks to Bryan Lasme’s hard work in the build-up – his opening goal of the season, the first of many. Karaman: “I said before the season started that I wanted to provide the team with goals and assists to help us achieve our collective targets.” The right-footed attacker had a hand in his second goal of the evening in stoppage time, when he set up Lasme’s debut goal, returning the favour for his previous assist.

With two more men on the pitch than the opposition, we definitely should have handled certain situations better.

Kenan Karaman

Karaman was frustrated that Andreas Luthe’s red card in the 39th minute and Boris Tomiak’s second yellow card before the one hour mark meant that Schalke were not able to improve the final scoreline. “With two more men on the pitch than the opposition, we definitely should have handled certain situations better. We are very self critical about that. We could have created more chances.” He added, however, that “everyone thinks a two-man advantage means the game runs itself. Kaiserslautern actually did a good job. You have to give them credit for that.”

Karaman is ultimately confident that a well-deserved 3-0 victory will boost the team’s momentum. “We are right at the beginning of the season and are still in the early stages of development. I’m looking forward to the upcoming challenges.” The team will take on Eintracht Braunschweig – first in the DFB-Pokal, then in the Bundesliga. “We are focused on our preparation for both of these matches”, asserts Karaman. The Turkey international is not only hungry for more victories, but also is looking to add more goal involvements into his overall tally.

Tags

Seite teilen