While Rot-Weiß Oberhausen loses a wild game at Fortuna Cologne, Fortuna Düsseldorf II takes the lead in the Regionalliga West overnight.
The fourth match day in the Regionalliga West is underway. Only three matches were on the agenda on Saturday during the DFB Cup weekend. Among others, Fortuna Cologne and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen faced each other at Cologne’s Südstadion. The visitors got off to a slightly better start. Matona-Glody Ngyombo shot over from 16 meters (4th minute), and a shot from Luca Schlax was cleared off the line. At the other end, Fortuna took advantage of their first real chance, with Nico Thier rounding RWO goalkeeper Kevin Kratzsch to put the home side ahead (14th minute).
The goal kicked off a hectic phase of the game. First, Ngyombo lost his cool, the RWO midfielder grabbed Tom Geerkens by the face and was shown a red card for violent conduct (19′). But the Kleeblätter didn’t have to play with a man down for long, as Enzo Wirtz fouled Pierre Fassnacht hard and was shown his second yellow card of the day (23′).. The goalmouth action was limited in the first half – until stoppage time. Fortuna won another corner, and Vleron Statovci nodded home (45+5). The teams went into the break with Fortuna leading 2-0.
RWO started the second half with a brief spell of pressure, but Alexander Mühling (47th minute) and Christopher Schepp (49th minute) both missed the Fortuna goal. Then came the next sending-off, again against Oberhausen: RWO captain Nico Klaß cleared the ball with his hand on the line and was shown a red card. Kratzsch guessed the corner of Rafael Garcia’s subsequent penalty and saved (53′). Back with a man advantage, Cologne made it 3-0. Once again, a corner brought success, with Statovci in the right place at the right time to score his second of the game (63′). Elias Demirarslan managed to pull one back from a free kick (71′), but soon after, Fortuna was awarded its second penalty. This time, Timo Bornemann stepped up, Kratzsch saved again, but was beaten by Adrian Stanilewicz, who was on hand to tap in (77′). Bornemann then put the icing on the cake with a header. It was the third defeat in four games for RWO, while Fortuna Köln celebrated a 5-1 victory with their fans.
Düsseldorf II squander 2-0 lead
The still unbeaten Fortuna Düsseldorf II welcomed 1. FC Bocholt. It was an evenly matched game in the first 45 minutes, with Fortuna striking first: Lennart Garlipp scored the 1-0 half-time lead midway through the first half, and Düsseldorf increased their lead to 2-0 immediately after the break through Charlison Benschop.
It looked like Düsseldorf were heading for their third win, but Arnold Budimbu had other ideas. First, the Bocholt player pulled one back from open play, then he equalized from the penalty spot (85′). Nevertheless, Fortuna took the lead in the table overnight.
VfL Bochum II gets its first win
SV Rödinghausen also faced a second-string team, with VfL Bochum II visiting the Häcker Wiehenstadion. A week after their 5-0 win at Wuppertaler SV, SVR disappointed in the first half, failing to get into the game at all and conceding a deserved 0-1 lead through Luis Hartwig, who scored the half-time goal (39th minute).
Rödinghausen came out of the break like a different team, pushing VfL back, but couldn’t find the equalizer. Instead, Hartwig sealed the game with his fourth goal of the season, making it 2-0 for the promoted team.
The Regionalliga West continues tomorrow, Sunday (August 17). Four matches are on the schedule. Borussia Dortmund II will face Wuppertaler SV, SSVg Velbert will host Borussia Mönchengladbach II, the previous league leaders SC Paderborn II will travel to SC Wiedenbrück, and 1. FC Köln II will take on Sportfreunde Siegen.
