No winner in the Regionalliga West chase. Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and FC Schalke 04 II drew 2-2.
Disappointment on both sides: Neither Rot-Weiß Oberhausen nor FC Schalke 04 II were able to put any pressure on Fortuna Cologne on Friday evening. The Regionalliga West chase ended in a 2-2 draw, which only Fortuna Cologne can be happy about.
FC Schalke 04’s reserves got off to the better start at the Niederrhein Stadium. Raphael Ott (6th) had the first big chance. He broke through on the left and had plenty of time from ten meters out. However, his shot from the left went wide of the goal. Schalke made their mark again: this time it was Edion Gashi (7th) from distance. RWO keeper Kevin Kratzsch was on hand.
RWO did not look alert or energetic in the first quarter of an hour. The punishment followed: Bojan Potnar (15th) rewarded Schalke’s strong start with the 1-0. After Ott made a good run into the penalty area, the ball found its way to the Schalke striker, who slotted it home with gusto. After half an hour, there were a few crazy seconds. First, it was almost 2-0 for S04 when former Oberhausen player Yassin Ben Balla (30) narrowly missed with a header. The ball flew past the right-hand post.
And then, at the other end, the equalizer: Seok-ju Hong (31) scored to make it 1-1 with RWO’s first serious chance! The teams went into the break with the score tied.
Schalke started the second half just as strongly as they had the first: Gashi (48′) scored from 16 meters into the right corner after a well-played counterattack and an assist from Ott.
And as in the first half, RWO needed a few minutes after the restart to get into the game. But the Kleeblätter then made their presence felt again with a goal: substitute Burinyuy Nyuydine, who came on for Cankoray Mutlu at half-time, ran onto a long ball and scored in the 56th minute to make it 2-2! Bitter for the goalscorer: just 15 minutes after coming on at half-time, he had to be replaced by Tim Krohn due to injury. There were no clear-cut chances in the second half. Hong had the best chance in the 77th minute: the South Korean RWO striker broke through strongly in the Schalke penalty area after a well-executed Oberhausen attack and narrowly missed taking the lead with a header. The score remained 2-2, which ultimately did not help either of Fortuna Cologne’s pursuers.
