VfL Osnabrück and FC Hansa Rostock played out a goalless draw in the basement duel of the 2nd league on Sunday. The 0-0 draw at Bremer Brücke doesn’t help either of the two northern clubs in the fight to stay in the league. Both end the matchday in a direct relegation zone.
The fact that both teams – Lower Saxony in 18th place and Mecklenburg in 17th place – are right there was clearly visible throughout large parts of the game. It was a goalless draw of the worst kind, especially in the first round: hardly any flow of the game, few chances, a lot of fighting and cramps. So exactly as Hansa coach Mersad Selimbegovic had predicted before the game (“I can’t imagine that there could be a football treat or anything else.”).
Osnabrück is much better, but Rostock has scours
Osnabrück was significantly better and more committed of two generally tense teams. In the second half, the Rostock team was able to thank their keeper Markus Kolke, who made outstanding saves several times, for allowing them to take a point with them to the Baltic Sea. A point that is actually not enough in view of Braunschweig’s renewed victory on Saturday (2-0 against Karlsruhe). With 21 points, the “Kogge” is two points behind Eintracht.
Sina Braun, Sportschau, February 11, 2024 4:39 p.m
Things look even bleaker for coach Uwe Koschinat’s team, who are now in last place with twelve points after the fifth draw from the last six games.
Koschinat: “This is a brutally positive approach”
Selimbegovic seemed accomplished after the game: “I’ve already won a lot of points, but today was the happiest.” In view of major personnel problems and failures during the game, the football teacher also had positive words: “We invested everything at the back, with a good goalkeeper and a lot of luck, so that we could take the point.”
His counterpart Koschinat was completely different, as he couldn’t believe that his team hadn’t been rewarded despite a “huge number” of scoring chances. But he also praised: “It’s a brutally positive approach. I see that the team is alive.” His players could dominate many teams in the second division. However, that doesn’t help. “We are last.” Only points help.
Sina Braun, Sportschau, February 11, 2024 4:35 p.m
Conteh and Junior Brumado miss the best opportunities
After a few minutes of testing, the game actually started well. A standard situation caused danger for the first time – and should have given Osnabrück the lead. However, after a corner from the right side, striker Christian Joe Conteh fired his volley from the left corner of the six-yard box next to the Rostock goal (9th).
The opportunity for Rostock’s Junior Brumado was even greater a few seconds later: Sarpreet Singh won the ball on the left and passed sharply into the middle. There, however, the Hansa attacker managed to miss the orphaned goal from five meters.
Albrecht Breitschuh, Sportschau, February 11, 2024 4:02 p.m
Hardly any flow, no chances
After these two huge chances, the encounter became increasingly stale, also because it had to be interrupted again and again from the twelfth minute onwards due to fan protests against the planned DFL investor deal. The hosts were the more active team and had significantly more possession of the ball, but FCH stood deep and defended in a disciplined manner.
Much of the play remained piecemeal: only rarely did one of the teams manage to let the ball run over several stations, and long shots repeatedly ended up in no man’s land. The result: acute lack of speed and opportunities. Halftime.
Kolke saves twice
Things could only get better – and they got better. At least a bit. And that was mainly due to the bottom of the table. The fact that Lower Saxony didn’t take the lead in the first ten minutes after the restart was due to Kolke. The Hansa goalkeeper made strong saves in the 53rd and 54th. First he scratched a Conteh header from the corner, then he defused a tricky touch-down from VfL full-back Florian Kleinhansl.
Sina Braun, Sportschau, February 11, 2024 4:24 p.m
A minute later, the 33-year-old would have been beaten, but Erik Engelhardt’s header went over the crossbar. Shockingly little came from the guests – and almost nothing at all. At least they did a better job of defending the Osnabrück team’s attack.
Niemann and Wriedt also fail
Koschinat changed offensively and brought in Noel Niemann and Kwasi Okyere Wriedt, among others. But the two substitutes also failed to get the ball into the Rostock goal: Kolke made a strong save against Niemann (86′) and Wriedt missed a cross by centimeters (87′). So it remained a goalless draw, which didn’t really help either team in the relegation battle.