2. Bundesliga: Missed penalty proves decisive as Kaiserslautern remain unbeaten

Kaiserslautern's convincing 3-0 win over Darmstadt has put the club among the early leaders of the 2. Bundesliga, but both coach Torsten Lieberknecht and midfielder Semih Sahin pointed to a missed penalty as the match's turning point.

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I am not talking about a successful start at all. That is your topic.

Four games into the season, Kaiserslautern have eight points and conceded only one goal. Sahin helped drive the victory, preparing two of the three goals and directing the team's play. He called the start "very positive" but warned that no one had won anything after only four matchdays.

The decisive moment came in the 29th minute, when Darmstadt missed a foul penalty. Lieberknecht said the outcome could have looked very different without that incident. Sahin agreed, saying the team had benefited from having luck on its side.

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I think the start to the season was very positive. We can be proud of that.

Lieberknecht rejected the media's description of the start as successful, saying journalists kept shifting the boundaries from the first three matches to the first 10. He did acknowledge that the team had shown stability and developed a respectful competitive atmosphere.

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We must not forget that in the first half we had that moment with the missed penalty. You never know how a game will develop.

Sahin said Kaiserslautern had changed some aspects of its play compared with last season. The team now wanted to control matches rather than spend them chasing the game. Its next test comes away to Magdeburg on Saturday, another difficult task after what Lieberknecht described as a very tough opening schedule.

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The game could have gone completely differently because of that situation. Today, luck was on our side.