Third division team Rot-Weiss Essen fought hard to achieve a 2-2 draw at Dynamo Dresden. However, there was a downer in injury 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 by two more years until 2026.

Just two days later, the league routine continued for RWE and Dabrowski – and how. The Red & Whites were guests at Dynamo Dresden in front of 30,387 spectators in the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium for the top game.

An absolutely wild game ended in a 2-2 draw after 98 minutes. RWE took the lead twice, but Tom Zimmerschied equalized twice. The guests could thank their outstanding goalkeeper Jakob Golz, who held on to the important point with several brilliant saves.

Despite the point, the mood in the Essen camp was somewhat depressed after the final whistle. The reason: defense leader Felix Götze was brutally hit in the head by Dresden’s Jakob Lemmer in injury time and had to be transported away with a badly bleeding laceration.

“I saw it from a distance and can’t say much about it yet. I think there’s a cut there and of course I hope that there are no broken bones and that Felix hasn’t suffered a serious injury,” Dabrowski emphasized after the final whistle in the ‘Magenta’ interview.

The Essen football coach showed true greatness when he brought Isaiah Young into the middle during the subsequent circle and built him up in front of all the other players. Winger Young had made a mistake 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 the game. He was very annoyed about the second goal against. He’s ambitious beyond belief, but we win, lose and draw together.”

We were pleased to get something out of a very difficult away game against a strong opponent. That’s not a matter of course. The team honestly earned the point, even if it took a bit of luck, because Dresden were very dominant.

Christoph Dabrowski.

Back to the sporting action: the 45-year-old former pro was happy with the 2-2 draw at the favorites for promotion. RWE is now ranked sixth after 27 games and remains close to the top: “We were happy to take something home from Essen in a very difficult away game against a strong opponent. That’s not a matter of course. The team earned the point, even if it took a bit of luck, because Dresden was very dominant. We gave it our all and had an outstanding goalkeeper in goal.”

Next week (March 2, 4:30 p.m.), Red-White Essen will face its next third division game. The strong promoted team SpVgg Unterhaching will travel to Hafenstraße.