Rot-Weiss Essen gave the perfect response to the 1-6 defeat in Mannheim, winning 3-1 against Hoffenheim II. But again, not without referee errors, only this time RWE benefited.

Rot-Weiss Essen wanted to make up for the 1-6 defeat in Mannheim in their home game against TSG Hoffenheim II in the 3rd division. However, TSG’s U23 team came to Essen having won three of their four away games so far, including in Rostock and at 1860 Munich.

Coach Stefan Kleineheismann’s team was unable to build on this away strength at the Hafenstraße stadium. RWE won the game 3-1 (2-0) in front of 15,027 spectators, redeeming themselves for last weekend’s defeat.

RWE coach Uwe Koschinat had to respond to the 1-6 defeat in Mannheim. This was due to the red card against Klaus Gjasula, who was absent along with the suspended Tom Moustier. Luca Bazzoli and Torben Müsel therefore took over the double six against TSG. Otherwise, there were no changes at RWE. At the start of the game, it was clear that the 1-6 defeat in Mannheim had left its mark on RWE. Hoffenheim dominated the game, with RWE initially trying to keep a compact defense. This worked, and Essen took the lead with their first chance.

Amaimouni-Echghouyab Ayoube, a former Essen player now playing for TSG, carelessly lost the ball twice in his own penalty area. This resulted in a long throw-in from Lucas Brumme, and after several passes, the ball came to Jannik Mause, who scored the opening goal – his first for RWE.

And he only needed another twelve minutes to score his second goal. After a brilliant free kick from Brumme hit the crossbar, he was where a center forward needs to be and headed in to make it 2-0.

The score remained the same until halftime because RWE played effectively and Hoffenheim didn’t have any big chances despite their technical advantages. After the break, Jannik Hofmann came on for Michael Kostka for RWE. And the visitors from Hoffenheim also came on strong. But RWE keeper Jakob Golz made a strong save against Ayoube (47th minute), and the visitors then missed another chance to pull one back by a hair’s breadth.

While Hoffenheim pressed, RWE counterattacked. And one of those attempts led to the 3-0. Ahmet Arslan sent Ramien Safi through, who crossed to Kaito Mizuta just in front of the goal, who scored into the empty net. This time, it was good for RWE that there is no VAR in the 3rd division, because Safi was offside when the pass was made.

The 3-0 took the wind out of the opponents’ sails, and Essen had chances to make it 4-0. After losing possession, substitute Marvin Obuz ran alone towards the goal but hit the post. And at the other end, a scene in the 77th minute showed why TSG had gone so long without scoring on this day. Whenever things got tight, the final touch was missing or an Essen player was in the way.

In the 85th minute, the visitors finally scored, with Valentin Lässig making it 3-1, but it was nothing more than a consolation goal. On Sunday (1:30 p.m.), RWE will now face FC Erzgebirge Aue at the end of their busy week of fixtures.