Rot-Weiss Essen were beaten 3-0 by second division side Arminia Bielefeld in a test match. RS spoke to the coach afterwards.

Rot-Weiss Essen tested with Bundesliga relegated Arminia Bielefeld on Thursday afternoon to the exclusion of the public. Both teams will not play a league match next weekend due to the international break and therefore used this free time for a test match comparison. The last time RWE and Arminia met was in September 2020. Back then, the Hafenstraßen eleven won 1:0 in the first round of the DFB Cup thanks to a goal from Simon Engelmann – the start of a long and special cup journey.

In the renewed encounter, Arminia retained the upper hand. After a goalless first half, the second division side deserved to win 3-0 thanks to a brace from Christian Gebauer (55th, 77th) and a counter-attacking goal from Bryan Lasme (61st). The Essen side tried everything until the final whistle to score a goal of their own, but lacked the necessary coolness in front of the opponent’s goal.

I was not so happy with the second half. We conceded two goals after losing the ball. We were too naive and were countered. That was not good. The defeat was deserved because of the second half.

Christoph Dabrowski

RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski, who almost exclusively tested his “second row” until the 70th minute, saw two different halves of his team: “It was decent in the first half – after initial difficulties. We could have scored one or two goals there. Then I wasn’t so happy with the second half. We conceded two goals after losing the ball. We were too naive and were caught out. That was not good. Because of the second half, the defeat is deserved. We also lacked the final determination in the opponent’s box.”

Overall, however, the test match served its purpose, as the 44-year-old football coach explained: “It was a good test against a good opponent. A lot of guys who were at the back got match practice and nobody got injured. That was important. “

In Wiesbaden and Freiburg – two away games for RWE

For coach Dabrowski’s team, the league schedule continues on 2 October (2pm) with an away game at SV Wehen Wiesbaden. One week later, Essen travels to the Dreisamstadion to face the U23 of SC Freiburg – two challenging tasks for the traditional club. Both upcoming opponents are still undefeated in home games. But 1. FC Saarbrücken were also unbeaten before their visit to Hafenstraße and then conceded a 0:1 defeat…