Rot-Weiss Essen scored an important point against a direct competitor in the fight for relegation.
RWE drew 0-0 in their home game against VfB Oldenburg on Sunday and successfully kept their opponents, who were two places behind, at bay. After 33 matchdays, RWE is five points ahead of the relegation zone.
RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski made four changes to his starting eleven compared to the canceled away game at FSV Zwickau. Sandro Plecharty, Björn Rother, Oguzhan Kefkir and Lawrence Ennali were new, captain Felix Bastians didn’t get fit in time.
Ennali fails at the post
The guests scored the first big chance of the game in the 9th minute when Patrick Hasenhüttl narrowly missed a cross from Linus Schäfer with his head. RWE needed a little longer to get the first deals. Two harmless long-range shots by Simon Engelmann (14′) and Ennali (15′) were the first attempts to approach the goal. It became much more dangerous in the 19th minute when Ennali appeared free in front of Oldenburg goalkeeper Felix Dornebusch, but only put the ball on the post.
RWE now increasingly took control of the game, but posed fewer threats in front of the Oldenburg goal. VfB also barely came close to the Essen penalty area before the break. So it remained at the break with a performance-oriented 0:0.
Young hits the second post
Shortly after the change of sides it was again the post that saved for Oldenburg. In the 50th minute, Isaiah Young hit the ball with a low shot from 18 meters after Ennali’s assist. On the other hand, Rafael Brand gave up his nerve in front of Jakob Golz when the Oldenburg player decided against the shot and decided to play into the void (54′).
The game now had a much higher tempo than in the first round and it went back and forth. For RWE it was Young again, who fueled his way into the penalty area with a strong solo, but was then blocked at the end (57th). Ennali’s shot from the second row did not pose a problem for Dornebusch (68′), nor was Thomas Eisfeld’s attempt (69′).
Müsel prevents a late goal
It became much more dangerous in front of the Essen goal when Hasenhüttl shot, which Golz was able to parry (70′). RWE increased the pressure again in the final phase, but were repeatedly confronted with dangerous counterattacks from Oldenburg. With one of these counterattacks, Manfred Starke had a huge chance, but substitute Torben Müsel cleared it out in dire need (88′). So it stayed at 0:0.