What a match between Hansa Rostock and Alemannia Aachen. After playing with a man advantage for 80 minutes, Hansa conceded the equalizer in the 100th minute and missed out on moving up to fourth place.
Hansa Rostock was the team of the moment in the 3rd division. But the 2-2 (1-1) draw against Alemannia Aachen will feel like a heavy defeat. They played with a man advantage for 80 minutes, took the lead in injury time, only to concede the equalizer against ten men.
The match in Rostock got off to a forgettable start for Aachen. After ten minutes, Danilo Wiebe was sent off with a red card. The ball hit his elbow at the edge of the penalty area. Referee Daniel Bartnitzki ruled that the handball prevented a clear scoring opportunity.
Aachen were now down to ten men for 80 minutes. Nevertheless, they had a great chance to take the lead. But Pierre Nadjombe was prevented from scoring at the last moment by Rostock’s Viktor Bergh (17′). Aachen remained courageous in the aftermath, showing no signs of being a man down. After 34 minutes, the visitors even took the lead through Mehdi Loune.
Right-back Florian Carstens played a careless pass towards Benjamin Uphoff. Loune got to the ball and scored from eight meters out. Christian Kinsombi had a chance to make it 1-1 five minutes later, but he missed the opportunity.
Hansa still managed to equalize before the break, however, thanks to a penalty converted by Kenan Fatkić. It was a bitter blow for Alemannia, as Da Silva Kiala had been hit in the head with the ball outside the penalty area. What a wrong decision against Aachen.
After the break, Hansa took control of the game, with Aachen only waiting for sporadic counterattacks. Benno Dietze and Marco Schuster, with a deflected shot, had the best chances for the hosts, who were applying more and more pressure. In the 75th minute, the spectators were ready to cheer a goal. But Emil Holten missed the chance to make it 2-1 from 11 meters out after some nice work from Ryan Naderi.
Aachen was now under constant pressure, and three minutes later Emil Holten missed with a header from a few meters out. Alemannia would have more than deserved a point for their combative performance. But this difficult evening still had a twist in store. In the 95th minute – there were eight minutes of added time – Holten finally scored to make it 2-1 for Hansa after the 14th corner.
Aachen did not give up, however, and threw everything forward. And on a day when everything went against Aachen, there was still a happy ending. In the 100th minute, it was Faton Ademi who actually scored the 2-2 equalizer. This was an important point for Aachen in the relegation battle, while Rostock missed out on fourth place, which now remains with RWE.