It was a dream evening on Saturday for Maximilian Eggestein. With great self-belief and an excellent prowess with both feet, the German scored two goals to give Werder an away win against Schalke and take them to second in the table. Eggestein scored the first brace of his career and was also impressive off the ball. “Maxi is just incredible,” said centre-back Niklas Moisander.
As the player with the best running ability, Eggestein played an important role in the balance Kohfeldt was seeking to achieve in the match, as he tracked back as well as attacking. The German ran 12.4 kilometres over the course of the game, yet it was his long-shots that were undoubtedly the most impressive aspect of his play under the floodlights in the Veltins-Arena. His brace against Schalke takes his tally to four goals for the season. Only he and Borussia Dortmund striker Paco Alcacer have scored three long-distance goals this season.
The Germany U21 international was in great form away at Schalke and the decision to play him shows the trust that the manager has in his team. Shortly before the break, Eggestein scored his first goal after getting the ball from Max Kruse on the edge of the box. The strike was hard and true and impossible for Alexander Nübel to deal with as he was blind-sided. The ball found the bottom corner with ease. “I didn’t want to lose the ball and so I had to shoot,” said Eggestein.
The 21-year-old showed in the second-half that he is not limited to only shooting with his right foot. After a pass from Theodor Gebre Selassie, Eggestein let fly with a great left-footed shot, leaving Nübel with absolutely no chance. Five of his eight career goals in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal have now come from right-footed shots on the left-hand side. “I’ve known for a long time that he can do that and I’m very happy that he feels comfortable enough to try it,” said Florian Kohfeldt. “He’s earned it!”
For Niklas Moisander, Eggestein’s good performance wasn’t surprising. “He works a lot and is developing very quickly,” said the defender. As for which foot he prefers, Moisander couldn’t say for sure. “I believe it’s the right.” At the moment, it’s hard to tell.
