Thanks to substitute Marek Janssen, Rot-Weiss Essen salvaged a point at home against VfB Stuttgart II.

Rot-Weiss Essen salvaged a point against VfB Stuttgart II in a wild final phase at the start of the 17th matchday of the 3rd division. Despite a weak performance, it was Marek Janssen who scored the late 1-1 (0-0) equalizer for RWE. Shortly before that, Ahmet Arslan had missed from the spot after the visitors had benefited from a slip by José-Enrique Ríos Alonso.

Essen, with Felix Wienand in goal for the ill Jakob Golz, could only watch as the strong visitors controlled the ball and their opponents in the early stages.

The first dangerous moment came in the sixth minute: After Christopher Olivier beat Tobias Kraulich, he crossed into the middle, where Lauri Penna tried to push the ball over the line from close range – Wienand prevented the deficit with a brilliant save. Ten minutes later, he was there again: Mansour Ouro-Tagba had left Kraulich standing after a pass from Noah Darvich and fired from a tight angle.

And Essen? They only got into the game after a good 20 minutes, coincidentally just as Stuttgart midfielder Darvich had to leave the pitch due to injury (23′). The home side promptly had their first chances to score: Kaito Mizuta’s header was blocked by a VfB defender, and Tim Moustier’s follow-up shot was deflected decisively behind the goal (28′). It was a rare foray forward.

Stuttgart continued to dominate the game and claimed the midfield for themselves. However, that was as far as they got, as the RWE defense stood strong. The offense, on the other hand, was virtually non-existent. Symptomatic of this: Torben Müsel shot at Jannik Mause’s arm from a good position.

Essen started the second half more offensively and pressed earlier. But soon VfB took control again: the unstoppable Ouro-Tagba hit the post after a cross from Penna (50′).

RWE only posed a threat on the counterattack: Müsel’s shot after good work from Safi was too harmless, however (59′). It was only after an hour that coach Uwe Koschinat’s team managed to establish some presence in the opponent’s half. They almost succeeded: Müsel missed at the near post after a cross from Jannik Hofmann, and Kraulich’s shot on the turn was saved by Florian Hellstern.

However, the final phase belonged to the visitors again: Efe Korkut suddenly appeared in front of Wienand, but the Golz substitute made a strong save. A minute later, he had no chance: Rios Alonso slipped as the last man after being pressured by Mohamed Sankoh. Stuttgart’s substitute took advantage and nutmegged Wienand to make it 1-0 to VfB (80′).

RWE threw everything forward and Stuttgart gave way! Sankoh tried to block a cross but handled the ball – penalty! Substitute Ahmet Arslan took the penalty, but Hellstern guessed the right corner and saved it (89′). However, RWE made the most of the resulting corner: Mizuta crossed the ball into the box, where substitute Janssen headed home to make it 1-1 (90′). It was a happy ending for Essen after a frantic final phase of the game.