Fair division of points: The hard-fought NRW duel between Arminia Bielefeld and Rot-Weiss Essen did not find a winner on Sunday.
The two teams separated 1:1 (1:0). Due to the draw, Essen missed out on moving closer to the promotion places. The gap to third place in relegation is four points. The table 15th. Bielefeld increased the gap to the first relegation spot to six points. Leandro Putaro (32nd) shot Bielefeld into the lead, Cedric Harenbrock (61st) equalized for Essen.
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Putaro takes advantage of the game’s first big chance
In the opening phase, Bielefeld let the ball roll through their own ranks and looked for a gap in the RWE defense, the Essen team took a wait-and-see approach. In a game of equals, both teams concentrated on defense and not making any mistakes, so that clear scoring opportunities remained scarce at first.
Arminia’s Putaro (19′) fired the first notable shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Essen’s keeper Jakob Golz was there and blocked it with his fists. RWE had a half-chance through Nils Kaiser (22′), but the ball slipped over his foot as he finished in the Bielefeld penalty area.
But in the 32nd minute, RWE was caught off guard. With an advance down the left side, Monju Momuluh crossed high into the middle just before the goal line, where Putaro hit the left corner with a direct shot from close range. RWE tried to respond directly, but remained harmless on the offensive.
Arminia misses out on a huge opportunity – RWE equalizes
After the break, Leon Schneider had the score 2-0. After a Bielefeld corner, Fabian Klos shot at Essen’s Moussa Doumbouya from a few meters, the rebound landed in the six-yard box to the unchallenged Schneider (53′) – but he shot past the bottom right.
Missing the opportunity immediately took revenge, RWE struck back out of nowhere. Essen’s Kaiser shifted to the left on the edge of the penalty area to Harenbrock, who was left alone (61′), who hit the ball low into the near corner from 15 meters. Bielefeld’s keeper Jonas Kersken was still there, but looked a bit unhappy.
The equalizer gave the Essen team a boost, Kersken fended off a powerful shot from a tight angle by Marvin Obuz (70′). Just two minutes later, Obuz dribbled through almost the entire Bielefeld defense, but was blocked by Lannert at the very last moment. In the final phase, RWE continued to be the better team, but things remained largely quiet in front of the goals. In stoppage time, Essen’s José-Enrique Rios-Alonso defused a chaotic situation in front of his own goal.
Arminia continues next Friday (7 p.m.) with an away game at SV Sandhausen, Essen will play at Waldhof Mannheim on Sunday (1:30 p.m.).
