Holstein Kiel head coach Marcel Rapp’s continued confidence in his team continues to pay off as the Bundesliga “Cinderella tale” for Rapp’s Störche carries on. A 1-3 away win at FC Augsburg on Sunday gives Kiel two consecutive league wins. Seven points picked up from the last three league fixtures lifted the team up from a seemingly hopeless position in last place to contention for the promotion-relegation playoff place.
By all accounts, Kiel have defied the odds. Rapp’s strangely optimistic take on the relegation race following a matchday 30 draw with Leipzig initially seemed woefully misplaced. After all, Kiel faced by far the most difficult remaining schedule of all the relegation contenders. Neither Rapp nor his squad seem to care about this. The Storks exploded for four goals against Gladbach last weekend before adding another three this round.
Everything went right for the team on Sunday. Even when leading goal-scorer Shuto Machino succumbed to injury, others found a way to step up. Unsung hero Steven Skrzybski contributed a fine performance. Swedish striker Alexander Berhardsson netted two goals. Rapp’s recent surprise choice to tend goal, Thomas Dähne, shone throughout to help preserve the victory.
Skrzybski praised Dähne and Berhardsson for their performances. Berhardsson was sure to thank Skrzybski for helping set up both his goals. As for Rapp, it was merely a matter of not letting his smile flicker for a moment at the post-match press conference.
“I’m really happy for Bera [Berhardsson],” Skrzybski told DAZN. “[He’s] extremely hard-working. He can play like he did today more often. We also had an outstanding goalkeeper. That’s the way to win games.“
“We played very well,” Berhardsson added in his DAZN interview. “[Skrzybski pass on third goal was unbelievable. A magical pass. I just have to run into the space and play that ball.“
“We’ve often played against team’s that man marked us tight over the whole pitch,” Rapp said at the press conference. “It often wasn’t so easy for us to create chances. Today we were very efficient in taking our chances.
“We’ve always had the confidence to score goals,” Rapp continued. “You can also see that we defend passionately. The guys give their all, which is a good foundation. There are still two games to go and we’ll pick up a few more points.“
GGFN | Peter Weis
