Third division side Rot-Weiss Essen fought their way to a 2:2 draw at Dynamo Dresden. However, there was a drop of bitterness in stoppage time.

It was the most important news of the week at Rot-Weiss Essen: On Thursday, the club announced that the contract with head coach Christoph Dabrowski had been extended for a further two years until 2026.

Just two days later, RWE and Dabrowski resumed their daily league routine – and how. The Red & Whites hosted Dynamo Dresden in front of 30,387 spectators at the Rudolf Harbig Stadium.

An absolutely wild game ended in a 2:2 draw after 98 minutes. RWE took the lead twice, but Tom Zimmerschied equalized twice. The visitors had their outstanding goalkeeper Jakob Golz to thank as he made several brilliant saves to hold on to the important point.

Despite the point, the mood in the Essen camp was somewhat sombre after the final whistle. The reason: Chief defender Felix Götze was brutally hit on the head by Dresden’s Jakob Lemmer in stoppage time and had to be carried off with a bleeding laceration.

“I saw it from a distance and can’t say much about it yet. I think there’s a cut and of course I hope that there aren’t any broken bones and that Felix hasn’t suffered any serious injuries,” emphasized Dabrowski in the “Magenta” interview after the final whistle.

The Essen soccer coach showed true greatness when he brought Isaiah Young into the middle of the subsequent circle and set him up in front of all the other players. Winger Young had fumbled before the 2:2 and shed a few tears after the final whistle. For Dabrowski, it was a matter of course: “Mistakes are part of sport. He was very annoyed about the second goal he conceded. He’s ambitious to no end, but we win, lose and draw together. “

We were delighted to take something countable home to Essen in a very tough away game against a tough opponent. That can’t be taken for granted. The team really deserved the point, even if it was a bit lucky because Dresden were very dominant.

Christoph Dabrowski

Back to sporting matters: The 45-year-old ex-professional was happy with the 2-2 draw at the promotion favorites. RWE are now in sixth place after 27 games and remain at the top of the table: “We were delighted to take something worthwhile home to Essen in a very tough away game against a tough opponent. That’s not something to be taken for granted. The team really deserved the point, even if it was a bit lucky because Dresden were very dominant. We put everything into it and had an outstanding goalkeeper in goal.”

Next week (2 March, 4.30 pm), Rot-Weiss Essen will play their next third division match. Then the strong promoted team SpVgg Unterhaching will travel to Hafenstraße