Search
Login
Please log in with your user data.
Karel Geraerts: “We weren’t rewarded for our efforts in the first half”
Following the draw on Easter Sunday (31/3), Karel Geraerts and KSC head coach Christian Eichner looked back at the game. The handball incident in the second half proved to be a hot topic in the post-match press conference. Marius Müller and Keke Topp also spoke to the media about the stalemate.
Karel Geraerts:
I’m proud of how my team managed to deal with the pressure after the loss in Berlin. It’s proof of their mental strength. We played well in the first half and were the better team. Despite creating a lot of chances and playing with a lot of intensity, however, we weren’t rewarded for our efforts. We deserved to be in front at half-time. Things were more even in the first few minutes of the second 45 and after that KSC were the better side. The incident right at the end of the game hurts. In my eyes, it was a clear handball, so it should’ve been a penalty for us. It would’ve been another good opportunity to get the winning goal. We wanted to get more than a point, but we came away with just that. That being said, we shouldn’t forget that we played against a team today that has scored three goals per game on average this year.
Christian Eichner:
We’re content with the point. I expected Schalke to play with power and grit, which is exactly what they did. There were a lot of challenges and we had to deal with a lot of long balls over the top. It wasn’t easy. Schalke had two or three clear-cut chances to take the lead in the first half. We had a bit of luck on our side. After an apprehensive start to the second half, we started to control the flow of the game. The match swung in our favour somewhat. At the end of the day, I think it was a fair result.
Marius Müller:
Karlsruhe have played a lot of teams off the park recently. As a result, we knew that they were going to play with a lot of energy and quality. We threw ourselves into every tackle and our body language was good, which is how we managed to keep a clean sheet. It’s a good thing. On the other hand, we spurned a lot of scoring opportunities. When all’s said and done, it’s a point more than we got last time out. After that first half though, it feels more like we’ve missed out on two points. I think the draw was deserved if you take the second 45 into account.
Keke Topp:
We needed to be more clinical in the first half and should’ve taken the lead. Maybe we were just missing that little bit of luck, since our chance conversion over the past few weeks has been pretty good. That wasn’t the case today, though. I’m feeling more hopeful for the game in Hannover after the first-half performance today, since we can build on today’s performance when we’re on the road next week.
