RWE is top of the table again. Rot-Weiss Essen won 2-0 at home against the under-21s of 1. FC Köln. 10,070 fans celebrated on Hafenstrasse.
1. FC Köln II, Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and Alemannia Aachen: These are the names of the opponents Red and white food until April 10th. “If after Aachen we’re ready to do it on our own, then we’ll do it one hundred percent,” emphasized RWE boss Marcus Uhlig before the game against the Cologne U21. At least after this game, the CEO of the red and white should be satisfied. RWE won an immensely important 2-0 victory.
Red and white food started the game with a lot of steam towards the West Stand. Felix Herzenbruch (5th) after a corner, Thomas Eisfeld (9th) after a fine cross from the new father of three Luca Dürholtz and Daniel Heber (14th) after a corner had great opportunities to lead. In other words, Heber even took the lead with his head. But the linesman ruled that Isaiah Young was offside, who is said to have disturbed the previously uncertain Cologne goalkeeper Daniel Adamczyk.
1. FC Köln II: Adamczyk – Strauch (46th Sponsel), Örnek, Hauptmann, Schwirten (63rd Jansen), Kuyucu, Arrey Mbi, Nottbeck, Henning, Wydra (80th Cisse), Schmitt (83rd Ksiouar).
Referee: Marc Jaeger.
Tore: 1:0 Engelmann (84.), 2:0 Kleinsorge (90.+2)
Yellow cards: – Schmitt, Nottbeck, The Jeweler.
Spectator: 10.070.
After the strong initial phase of around 25, 30 minutes for Essen, a very good segment of 15, 20 minutes for Cologne followed, in which the hosts were very lucky and Jakob Golz was on their side that they didn’t fall behind. José-Enrique Ríos Alonso didn’t clear the ball and suddenly Oliver Issa Schmitt (34′) came free in front of Golz. The RWE goalkeeper remained the winner. Just five minutes later, Golz parried again against the agile Schmitt. These were two Cologne so-called “hundred percent” before halftime. Lucky for RWE!
RWE got back into the game better after the break. Young (48th) almost made it 1-0 shortly after the restart. But his shot was too misplaced and didn’t pose any problems for Cologne’s keeper Adamczyk.
It was a very tough second half. The persistent sleet makes it very difficult for the 22 players on the lawn in the stadium on Hafenstrasse. The people of Essen hoped above all for the can opener according to standards. But even several corner balls – corner ratio: 9:7 for RWE – should not bring anything. Not even in the 73rd minute: Herzenbruch headed the ball to the crossbar after a Cedric Harenbrock corner kick, Adamczyk, who became stronger and more confident during the game, still had his fingers on it. This was also the case in the 78th minute when Adamczyk brought Young to despair and again prevented RWE from making it 1-0. Why despair? Because Young ran towards the Cologne goal in the 81st minute – and stumbled.
And somehow everyone had already adjusted to a zero number on this evening of April 1, 2022. But everyone made this calculation without Simon Engelmann! Once again the goalscorer was there for RWE. In the 84th minute, he scored the much-acclaimed winning goal in front of 10,070 spectators after a free kick from the turmoil in the penalty area – Hafenstrasse shook! Marius Kleinsorge even made it 2-0 with the final whistle.
RWE won and is the leader in the same number of games, two points ahead of Munster.
