After 449 days: Wattenscheid breaks Lohrheide curse and wins basement duel

SG Wattenscheid won the basement duel against FC Brünninghausen 4:0 (1:0). Head coach Engin Yavuzaslan’s match plan worked out perfectly.

A load off Wattenscheid’s mind: After 449 days without a win at home in the Lohrheide Stadium, SG Wattenscheid were able to win another competitive match in front of their own fans and set an exclamation mark in the relegation battle. The traditional club put in a passionate performance in the important Oberliga basement duel and won 4:0 (1:0) against FC Brünninghausen.

“Our match plan worked right from the start. My team was perfectly prepared for the game. We wanted to have the second balls immediately when we won the ball and aim to switch play in a one-two formation via the wings,” revealed SGW head coach Engin Yavuzaslan.

However, the course of the game could have been completely different if the visitors from Dortmund had wasted their 100 percent chance to score and their first chance at all. In a counter-attacking situation following his own corner kick, Julian Trapp ran alone towards SGW keeper Niklas Lübcke, who won the one-on-one duel (20′). Nevertheless, Wattenscheid were the more active and dominant team – but initially lacked the can opener.

Shortly before half-time, the time had come: Fabrizio Fili first forced Brünninghausen keeper Leon Broda into a save from close range, and new signing David Loheider then pushed the follow-up shot over the line for a 1:0 lead (44′). Yavuzaslan was confident of victory: “When we sat in the dressing room at half-time, I could see in my players’ eyes that they weren’t going to concede this game. We wanted to invest even more in the second half and were greedy. We owed that to the fans.”

And SGW did indeed go one better after the break. Once again, it was the eye-catching creative Fili who narrowly failed to score, this time hitting the inside of the post (49′). Nico Thier and goalscorer Umut Yildiz were luckier, combining to make it 2:0 (54′). When SGW “play themselves into a frenzy” as they did in these situations, it is “very difficult to defend”, analyzed coach Yavuzaslan and praised his team: “We were the better team in all areas. That was exactly the attitude and mentality we need.”

Scheme:

SG Wattenscheid: Lübcke – Kaminski, Kacmaz, Haar, Da Costa Pereira (72nd Schurig) – El Mansoury (86th Yanik), Thier, Fili (77th Firat), Wiebel, Yildiz (75th Kouonang) – Loheider (64th Casalino)

FC Brünninghausen: Broda – Kruse (81. Garando), Lorenz, Wieczorek, Trawinski (58. Liskunov), El Hamassi – Tekin, Ivancic (58. Kodra), Trapp – Gondrum, Kayagdi (70. Rosowski)

Referee: Thorsten Milde

Goals: 1:0 Loheider (44′), 2:0 Yildiz (54′), 3:0 Casalino (68′ / penalty), 4:0 El Mansoury (84′)

Spectators: 718

Substitute Felix Casalino (68th penalty) and Jamal El Mansoury (84th) finally increased the score to 4:0. Afterwards, there was no holding back in the stands. Three points at the Lohrheide – SGW fans had not experienced this feeling for almost 15 months.

“A winless streak like that can’t happen again. That was a one-off,” announced Yavuzaslan and praised the patient supporters: “We have to be a rock in our living room and make it difficult for every opponent. You could see what this win meant to the spectators. When the fans called the team to the corner, I just had goosebumps.”

SG Wattenscheid can go one better at home next week when they host TuS Bövinghausen, the next club from Dortmund (10.03., 15:00). At the same time, FC Brünninghausen will host Spielvereinigung Erkenschwick