Analysis: This is how we got a 5-1 home win

The 2-0 just before the break. Admittedly, we struggled for a long time as to whether 2-0 or 3-0 was more important for the Lilies‘ game. One could certainly have found excellent arguments for the third goal, after all, Luca Marseiler’s goal was something like the infamous cap that was screwed on the game. Ultimately, Fraser Hornby’s shot from the turn stands out here because it was so mentally important. Ultimately, the goal to make it 2-0 at least prevented the dissatisfied walk to the dressing room that the South Hesse team would probably have made despite 45 excellent minutes. The feeling was that not enough goals were scored from the strong performance. Of course, SV 98 could have cheered even more often in the first half. But the 2-0 score at least made for a somewhat more fulfilling half-time break. „We actually have to lead even higher at the break,“ said Florian Kohfeldt afterwards, but the coach also noted: „With a 5-1 win, we shouldn’t look for too many ifs and buts.“

The Defence. When you score five goals, your gaze naturally tends to look in the other direction of the field. And yet it is becoming increasingly clear that the team has absolutely settled into its defensive position. Against Münster they kept a clean sheet for the first time in ages, in the following game against Bundesliga club Werder Bremen the Lilies defended with the utmost passion and verve for (almost) everything for 94 minutes and Hamburger SV also left the strongest offensive team in the league rarely comes into its own thanks to a concentrated performance. The Lilies stressed 1. FC Kaiserslautern with full-field pressing throughout the entire game and thus shifted the game far away from their own goal. Kohfeldt: „For me, we defended outstandingly. I don’t think Kaiserslautern was ever calm when playing with the ball. And that’s the basis that ensured that we always had the feeling that we can be dangerous at the front.”

The Attack. “We made very good use of the space behind the Kaiserslautern defence and were often able to play deep on our fast players,” explained Clemens Riedel in the mixed zone: “That worked really well.” That’s right: Riedel and his teammates pushed the Red Devils deep into their own half right from the start, took advantage of the opponent and then repeatedly dangerously got in front of the goal with targeted attacks. Marseiler: „The coaching team prepared us well again, everyone stuck to the plan, every player knew what they had to do.“ The match plan was clearly visible on Saturday evening: with precisely timed chips, the guests‘ back line was often brought into the game. This caused assignment problems and a lot of question marks for the opponent. „Be it after winning the ball or out of the game. We were able to create a goal threat from all facets of the offensive game,“ Kohfeldt analysed in a media round with the journalists. It can be seen that the Lilies are flexible in their approach. Recently they often played through the center, against Kaiserslautern it was often bridged with many opposing movements. This variability gives us courage for the final game in 2024 at Jahn Regensburg and everyone involved pointed this out almost in unison. A successful home game, yes. But there is still one task left to do this calendar year.

Isac Lidberg’s injury. The exploitation of opportunities in the first round has already been touched on, so at this point: Get well soon, Isac! The Swede injured his thigh after around a quarter of an hour and had to be substituted shortly afterwards. Apart from that, there isn’t much to read in this section this time, we’re sticking with our head coach: „I would like to expressly praise the team for their best performance of the season as a whole. And I’m of course extremely satisfied with that.“