Analysis of the Goal Festival

The goal to make it 2-0 by Fynn Lakenmacher. Of course, with a 5-1 win there are numerous scenes that deserve special recognition. But Lakenmacher’s debut goal, which was worth seeing, finally put the Lilies on the road to victory in Fürth. Since Florian Kohfeldt took office, SV 98 had taken a 1-0 lead in games against Braunschweig, Magdeburg, Köln, Ulm and Dresden. The South Hesse team conceded a 1-1 draw in all games, even though they were still able to win the matches with Köln and Dresden. „We had talked about exploiting opportunities beforehand and also the minutes after our own goal, in which we often quickly conceded another goal. Today we were highly concentrated and went after it,“ Kai Klefisch summed up after the game, naming one important key to a clear away win. Isac Lidberg played the ball into the penalty area, Lakenmacher first shielded the ball with his massive body and then, with a turning movement, placed it in the far corner. Worth seeing and at the same time immensely important. This goal dealt a visibly unsettled Fürth team another blow in the neck; in retrospect, for SV 98 it was probably the decisive moment for the goal festival that followed. In addition, the goal by the attacker, who was substituted after just under half an hour, also underlined the statements of head coach Kohfeldt, who had already increasingly praised and emphasised the “breadth” of the squad. „All the players are in rhythm. Many players are in good shape. That’s giving the coach a positive headache.“

Fortunately, a lot. Kohfeldt rightly spoke of the “best game” under his direction. We want to emphasise two points again.

Exploitation of chances: In the analysis of Dresden, this point was clearly criticised, in Fürth the Lilies were much more efficient in front of the goal. „Not every shot was a goal, but every single shot was serious. That’s important to me,“ said Florian Kohfeldt, who had previously celebrated some notable goals. Lakenmacher’s turning shot, Killian Corredor’s well-placed finish after a solo run or Sergio Lopez’s lob. All goals radiated a conviction and the will to absolutely want to score each goal. “We struck coldly today,” said Philipp Förster, who gave SV 98 the lead with his goal. Another positive point to note is that almost all of the goals and other chances were worth seeing, and all five goals came out of the game.

Work against the ball: “We dominated the game almost the entire time,” Klefisch summed up the event aptly after the final whistle and spoke of an “outstanding game, both defensively and offensively.” When in possession of the ball, the Lilies showed a high level of concentration. The joy of playing was evident, but what was particularly noticeable was the work against the ball. Starting with the double lead, SV 98 repeatedly put the hosts under pressure, started at a high pace and immediately found their way into counter-pressing after losing the ball and regained possession. Despite the five goals, Kohfeldt expressly praised his offensive line for this point: “My biggest compliment is how the offensive players played against the ball today. When I see Isac and Fynn beating the opponent at the start of the 80th minute, that’s the basis for the team’s success.

Fraser Hornby’s injury: „There was only one downside for us today, that was Fraser Hornby’s injury.“ At the press conference after the game, Kohfeldt made it clear relatively quickly which point diminished the extremely positive overall impression a little. In a duel in the 25th minute, Hornby was fouled by his opponent and twisted his foot, a conceivably unfavourable situation. The attacker was still on the field for around three minutes, but the pain made it impossible to continue playing “I don’t like to speculate, but he already seemed dejected,” revealed Kohfeldt, adding hope: “I hope, of course, that it’s just a bruise or a stretch.”

The late goal conceded: When it comes to the game itself, you have to take a closer look to find something to pick up. „There is no criticism from me today, just a compliment for this performance at the end of the English week.“ This is how Kohfeldt responded to the question about the late goal conceded to make the final score 5-1. But the Lilien head coach also admitted that that Fürth’s goal had „brutally annoyed“ him at that moment, before he added with a smile: „I kicked over a box, but then turned to my assistant coaches and said: ‚Then we’ll have something on Tuesday, what we can work on.'“

Because on Tuesday the Lilies will start preparing for the home game against Hertha BSC. Maybe we’ll get our first clean sheet this season.