Kramarić: "The three points are what count"

Oliver Baumann: "We had the first half under much better control. After that it was a typical 2-0 scenario, Kiel came back into it and we gave too much away. We didn't see through our attacks to the end. At the end, we were not so well-versed that we had the match under control and our opponents chasing the ball. We were also of course tired in that weather but we still have room for improvement. Andrej delivered once again. We need his goals. But there were many good performances in the team today. But I didn't like the second half so much, that was too open. When Timo Becker went through on me, I wanted to make the right decision and find a good position. I'm happy that it worked out. Kiel created chances too easily."

Grischa Prömel: "The three points come above all else. The start to the season has been successful, that's important to bring in a sense of calm and begin the campaign well. The first half was good, but afterwards it then got far too wild. We had one or two opportunities with which we could have closed the game down but we needed to go about them with more maturity and more control. The second Kiel goal made things dangerous. If you score a goal yourself, you also need to survive the next few minutes; we didn't manage that. For that reason, it became more tense than we would have liked. Andrej is of course incredible, we don't need to talk about how important he is for our play. Maybe he'll challenge for the top scorer award again this year. (laughs)."

Anton Stach: "I'm extremely frustrated we didn't keep a clean sheet and conceded two goals. The win counts in the end and it was a good start. We should've made it 3-0 and wrapped it up. We then no longer communicated so well, which allowed Kiel to have chances. We need to stick together and move together as a team. Not everything went smoothly in the second half, it was better in the first half."

Andrej Kramarić: "I'm extremely happy I scored three goals. It's something very special to achieve that twice in a row following the hat-trick against FC Bayern Munich. These are unbelievable moments. It was not so simple but the three points are what count. That's the most important thing. We played good football in the first half. The second half was not so good. We had too many problems with a man more. I didn't like that. It's not always easy in those temperatures. But we're looking forward and want to win again in Frankfurt."

Pellegrino Matarazzo: "We played a good first half and had a good structure. We had several good opportunities for the third goal, but the Kiel goalkeeper kept them out. We then lost our control and lacked the energy to press even higher. We should've been slightly more compact in those moments instead of repeatedly playing the next ball in behind. We lacked phases of possession. But in the end, it was a deserved win for us."

Marcel Rapp (Holstein Kiel coach): "We saw a match that could have gone in both directions. Hoffenheim took the lead with their first chance and made it 2-0 in a phase in which we had the chances to equalise. Hoffenheim could have scored a third goal, then it would've been difficult. But we came back into it and still had chances even with a man fewer. We want to play better on the 20th matchday than on the first matchday. When you saw how the fans saw us off, we can be proud. If the chance conversion had been better, we would've taken a point and then nobody would have said it was completely undeserved. There were some good things but also some not so good things. We can build on the performance."

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