Steven Skrzybski is Holstein Kiel's guarantee of success. For the second time in a row he put his side back on track to victory by scoring twice. First he did so in a 3-2 (0-1) away win against 1. FC Nürnberg, then on Sunday in a 3-1 (1-1) win over 1. FC Heidenheim. "He has the quality and currently the self-confidence to do things like that," Heidenheim's coach Frank Schmidt had to say.

Skrzybski is in the form of his life. He himself can't remember ever scoring two goals in two consecutive games in his career. "But the probability is not that high," he says with a smile. No other player in the second division is as effective as the 29-year-old. He leads the scorer list with eight goals. Since he also prepared four goals, Skrzybski is also the top scorer in the league.

But how does he explain his marksmanship? "I think it's a team product," he replies. "We create a lot of chances to score. I think every player has on average one or two good chances per game. I'm just lucky at the moment that things fall through."

The attacker, who is only 1.74 meters tall, was not always so lucky. In the summer of 2018, he moved to Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga for a fee of 3.2 million euros from the then second division club 1. FC Union Berlin, for whom he had scored 14 goals in the previous season. He was even in the two Champions Leagues there - Round of 16 games against Manchester City on the pitch. In the following season he was no longer used under coach David Wagner. For the second half of the season he was awarded to Fortuna Düsseldorf within the Bundesliga. He had eleven appearances there and scored one goal.

Back at Schalke he had to experience the relegation season. At the beginning of 2021 he also suffered a ligament injury and was unable to play for more than three months. When he returned on matchday 32, relegation had long since been sealed. So he should not have been bursting with self-confidence when the move to Kiel took place in the summer of 2021. Having managed just four goals in 24 games in 2021/22, he seems to have really settled down in the north.

"We've known for a long time that Steven is a very good player," says coach Marcel Rapp. "But of course he also had a lot of problems and a bad phase when he came to Kiel." He kept getting hurt and had no rhythm. Rapp: "But now he's in rhythm, hasn't been injured much, has a lot of training sessions and is very good at finals. Now he's got a bit of luck too. That's why he's an outstanding player at the moment."

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