VfB Homberg earned a well-deserved draw against Germania Ratingen 04/19. Coach Stefan Janßen was satisfied with his team’s performance.

Under the floodlights at the PCC Stadium, VfB Homberg ended the winning streak of league leaders Ratingen 04/19 in the Oberliga Niederrhein. In freezing temperatures, the spectators had to settle for a goalless draw.

Both teams can certainly live with the result, as Homberg achieved a respectable success with the point against the leaders. The visitors, on the other hand, are now four points ahead of their closest rivals and took at least one point away from home against a difficult opponent.

The omens were very different, as VfB had not won in three league games. Coach Stefan Janßen’s team gained confidence in the Lower Rhine Cup against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, when Duisburg lost only narrowly 1-2 and played a good game. Nevertheless, it was not a successful experience. On the other hand, Ratingen 04/19, the league leaders. Coach Damian Apfeld’s team had recently celebrated four consecutive wins in the championship. The visitors wanted to show this confidence right away and started with a lot of pressure. But the home team was able to hold their own, and so the first half remained an evenly matched game. Chances were few and far between, as both teams were prone to mistakes in attack.
However, praise must also go to the defenses, who did a good job on both sides. In the second half, Ratingen initially came out stronger again. But VfB keeper Leon Schübel was unbeatable on the night. Immediately after the restart, the goalkeeper saved against Giuliano Zimmerling and, just under a quarter of an hour later, he had to prove his skills again against Rinor Rexha.
Umut Yildiz also had a good opportunity (56′).

The Homberg team survived the visitors’ period of pressure thanks to their strong goalkeeper before Janßen’s team was able to make its mark again. Luca Thissen’s follow-up shot from a free kick was deflected and narrowly missed its target. In the end, the score remained 0-0, which was a fair result overall. “I’m particularly pleased for our goalkeeper and our defense that we finally kept a clean sheet again. It was a focused performance,” said Janßen after the game, adding: “We showed the league leaders what we’re capable of.”

The conditions were particularly difficult, as not only did the freezing temperatures make life difficult for the players, but the pitch conditions were also less than ideal due to the weather in recent days. “We saw a good soccer game considering the conditions,” said the VfB coach.

Homberg will continue their campaign on Sunday, November 30, at 3 p.m. at Blau-Weiß Dingden. The league leaders from Ratingen will host Holzheimer SG on Friday, November 28, at 7:30 p.m.