After a good start, Rot-Weiss Essen suffered another setback against Energie Cottbus due to a penalty. RWE is on course to set a new record in this category.

Groundhog Day. That’s roughly how you could describe the penalty situation at Rot-Weiss Essen this season. In the top match against Energie Cottbus, a penalty kick disrupted the game after just under a quarter of an hour. Just as the fans were getting back into the spirit of things, RWE suffered a setback.

At the end of the 12th minute, Michael Kostka fouled Moritz Hannemann – a clear case. Tolcay Cigerci converted the penalty and once again, the players had to discuss an unnecessary penalty in the tunnel after the final whistle. “It was a matter of milliseconds where Micha (Michael Kostka, editor’s note) couldn’t see his opponent behind him. He then took a step and his opponent did a great job, stepping forward, hitting the ball and making contact with Micha. It’s difficult when your opponent comes up from behind. You just don’t have eyes in the back of your head,” explained Torben Müsel, who defended his teammate.

Nevertheless, in the case of Rot-Weiss Essen, there is now talk of the tenth penalty conceded. This means that RWE is currently on the verge of equaling Hansa Rostock’s negative record from the 2013/14 season, when they conceded 15 penalties by the end of the season.

According to Müsel, these situations were actually something that should have been avoided. All in all, another penalty cost the team points in the battle for the top spots. Looking at the table, it’s not a major setback, of course, but it’s certainly a thorn in the side. Especially because Essen was certainly not the worse team in the top match against Cottbus.