Third division club Rot-Weiss Essen played a test match against FC Twente Enschede on Wednesday. The game ended 2:1 for the Dutch first division club.
Sometimes an international break doesn’t necessarily come at a good time. This is currently the case for Rot-Weiss Essen.
The Hafenstraßen team has been in strong form in recent weeks, going from victory to victory.
Five wins in a row and a jump to third place in the table were the result for last year’s relegation candidates. Most recently, SV Waldhof Mannheim was defeated 2:0.
In order to stay in rhythm during the match-free period, the third division club arranged a test match on Wednesday morning: their opponents were FC Twente Enschede, third in the Dutch Eredivisie table.
Due to security regulations – Twente is a close fan friend of Schalke 04 – the match was played behind closed doors. Only a few members of the press were present. After an intense and thrilling 90 minutes, the match ended 2:1 (1:0) in favor of FC Twente.
RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski made seven changes from the Mannheim match. Only José-Enrique Ríos Alonso, Lucas Brumme, Cedric Harenbrock and Isaiah Young remained. The visitors also fielded a mix of A and B team players.
An interesting match developed, with attacking actions on both sides. RWE had the best chance to take the lead in the 18th minute. First Sandro Plechaty failed to beat visitors’ keeper Issam El Maach, then the active Nils Kaiser put the ball just wide of the goal.
Eight minutes later, the strong visitors took the lead: Daan Rots scored with a precise left-footed shot into the far corner to make it 1:0. Nils Kaiser and Ron Berlinski then each had a great chance to equalize, but El Maach was on hand to make the save. The Dutch also had further dangerous attacking moves. FC Twente went into the break with a 1:0 lead
Dabrowski made eight changes at half-time. Only Felix Wienand, Nils Kaiser and Sandro Plechaty continued to play. The cold shower came straight after the break: Carel Eiting scored the 2:0 after a misplaced pass from Felix Götze with just 45 seconds to play.
Even after taking the 2:0 lead, Enschede continued to play forward and put Essen under pressure early on – sometimes even in their own penalty area. But RWE did not hide either and scored the equalizer in the 65th minute through a Moussa Doumbouya clearance. Plechaty provided the assist.
The score remained that way. RWE put in a respectable performance, but were beaten 2-1 by the Dutch top club.
Rot-Weiss Essen will not return to league action until November 25 (2 p.m.). Then the third-placed team in the 3rd division will host FC Ingolstadt at the Audi Sportpark.