SG Wattenscheid 09 played to a 0-0 draw against Spielvereinigung Erkenschwick in their final home game of the year. A questionable offside call raised questions.
To wrap up the midweek schedule, SG Wattenscheid 09 could not manage more than a draw in a tough and scrappy derby against Spielvereinigung Erkenschwick.
Despite several scoring chances, the final score was 0-0. Due to the grueling cup match against Regionalliga side FC Gütersloh on Wednesday (a 3-4 loss in a penalty shootout), SGW head coach Christopher Pache rotated his lineup and had to do without three key players.
Steve Tunga remained on the bench for the full 90 minutes, and Kevin Schacht wasn’t even in the squad. The same went for Ilias Anan, who was still absent due to his participation in the Small-Field World Cup in Mexico. The first chance of the game turned out to be the best: Berkan Firat appeared in the box after just 45 seconds and slammed the ball against the post. “If he’d put it ten centimeters to the left, the ball would’ve gone in. Then we’d be seeing a completely different game,” Pache summed up.
The visitors sat deep, gave the tired Wattenscheid players space, and were barely pressured. As a result, the league leaders were forced to create solutions throughout the entire match, which they mostly struggled with. “We played a bit too recklessly. Near the box, we didn’t always make the right decisions. The first touch was often sloppy, and the decision to lay it off wasn’t there,” Coach Pache criticized the frantic play.
Shortly after the break (47th minute), things looked different in one situation: Firat played a through ball into the path of Robert Nnaji, who shot on the volley and scored what appeared to be the 1-0 goal into the far corner. Annoying: The linesman raised his flag and ruled the striker offside—a clear mistake. Pache: “I have to watch it on video. If it wasn’t offside, I’ll eat my own leg. That was a brutal play.”
As time went on, the fans in the stands grew increasingly impatient, audibly grumbling that the ball had crossed the line. Expectations in Wattenscheid have changed in the meantime. Pache rightly noted: “We’ve had an intense week. You don’t get anything for free in this league. You can’t underestimate that. These days, you go in with a sense of entitlement and only look at the standings, but every game has to be hard-fought.”
Even the lucky punch in stoppage time, when Nico Buckmaier narrowly missed a header from Serhat Kacmaz (90’ + 2), didn’t materialize. The joy was correspondingly great for visiting coach Nassir Malyar: “We’re heading home happy. A time or two, we had the Pope in our pocket. You need that too to take home something tangible from here. We left our hearts on the field.”
Next week, Erkenschwick will host Spielvereinigung Vreden (December 13, 3:00 p.m.). The day before, there will be a top-of-the-table clash between SV Lippstadt and SGW (December 12, 7:00 p.m.).