First half to forget: Black has to go down
The first half of the Blumenstädter was not fireworks. RWE did not manage to stage the numerous good offensive forces. In addition, Til Schwarz had to come down early due to injury (37th minute), Daniel Muteba came on for him. Goal area scenes were scarce, also because Hansa narrowed the spaces and went to the point in the first game after promotion to the regional league. Fabian Gerber’s defense was solid, but RWE couldn’t generate any transition scenes.
Gerber exchanges victory with Pronichev and Seidemann
After the break, the Thuringians showed a different face. The red and whites immediately went for the ball more energetically and pushed the guests from the Baltic Sea into their own penalty area. But really compelling opportunities didn’t spring up. Until Fabian Gerber set the course for victory with a double change: Top new signing Maximilian Pronichev came on for Caniggia Elva, Kay Seidemann for Malcolm Badu (66th). First Pronichev netted for the first time in an RWE jersey after an unfortunate action by Hansa keeper Hagemoser (75′). Seconds later, after a great pass from Artur Mergel, Seidemann scored to make it 2-0 (76′). Nothing happened after that, even if Hansa threw everything forward again.
After a courageous performance in front of 5,823 onlookers, including around 300 FCH fans, RWE retained the three points in the state capital. In view of the second round, the victory is perfectly fine, even if there should still be some room for improvement offensively.