Holstein Kiel’s Steven Skrzybski on scoring six goals from last six shots: “One has to shoot to score.” | OneFootball

German second-division veteran Steven Skrzybski has found a new lease on life at Holstein Kiel. After being relegated with Schalke 04 during the nightmare 2020/21 campaign, the 32-year-old might have never dreamed of scoring once again in the Bundesliga. As it so happens, he’s scored six goals for Marcel Rapp’s storks in 15 appearances this season, two more than he scored in 36 top-flight appearances with Schalke and Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Marcel Rapp’s squad is full of surprises this season. The team’s leading goal scorer (Phil Harres, seven league tallies) was playing for FC Homburg 08 in the German fourth division last year. Skrzybski scored a brace against Stuttgart in just his seventh league start of the campaign. He never scored from open play in any of his other six starts. Apart from a converted penalty against Bochum on matchday 21, all of Skrzybski’s goals have come off the bench.

To make matters more ridiculous, Skrzybski has a 50 percent shooting record this year. All six of his last attempts on goal have gone into the back of the net. It’s almost as if some hidden karmic force seeks to repay him for the horrible three years that constituted his tenure at Schalke. The Berlin-native built his career up in Köpenick with Union Berlin, moving to Schalke on a €3.2m transfer one year before the Köpenickers were promoted. His career then tanked.

“I just tried to shoot on target with pure intuition,” Skrzybski said when describing his second goal of the afternoon in the mixed zone. A sardonic tenor then accompanied his next remark: “A coach once told me: only those who shoot at goal can score.“

GGFN | Peter Weis