Rot-Weiss Essen narrowly lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the dress rehearsal ahead of the new season.
In the final test before the start of the new third division season, Rot-Weiss Essen were beaten 2-1 (0-1) by reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen on Friday evening.
Although some well-known key players were not yet available after Euro 2024 and it was the first appearance of the preparation, the Werkself started as expected in dominant fashion. Apart from an early double chance – new signing Martin Terrier failed to beat Jakob Golz one-on-one (7′) before Amine Adli missed with a heel (8′) – Xabi Alonso’s team rarely got into the final third.
RWE also had an opportunity despite a low share of the game: After Odilon Kossounou cleared a cross from Ekin Celebi to the feet of Ramien Safi, the new attacker curled the ball past the goal (19′). Christoph Dabrowski’s side were then mainly preoccupied with defensive work.
Leverkusen increased the pressure in the final quarter of an hour and, after a few saves from Essen and a strong save from Golz, the time had come: Celebi’s return was too short, Nathan Tella got in between and slotted home to make it 1:0 (44′) – the deserved score at the break.
After the break, the picture was initially the same: the double winners nestled in Essen’s half. The first big chance came after ten minutes. After a long pass from Arthur, Tobias Kraulich undercut the ball and Tella missed the double in front of goal (55′).
Leverkusen then took a short break and made a few changes, RWE did not get beyond a few individual actions – Lars Brumme, for example, made a strong challenge on Kossounou, but his finish was too weak. It was only in the closing stages that the visitors turned up the heat again: García curled a cross into the penalty area, where Schick tucked the ball past Golz to make it 2:0 – the preliminary decision.
“RWE – Bayer Leverkusen July 26, 2024” src=“https://forecasting-sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1.598_norm.jpg” width=“680” height=“440” /☻
RWE gave another twitch in what has become a typical test match. Safi hit the crossbar after a Brumme cross before Leonardo Vonic scored the equalizer after a one-two with Dion Berisha (89′)
Both teams exchanged one more goal each, but it remained a 2-1 defeat for the brave team from Essen.
RWE continue their third league campaign on August 3 against newly promoted Alemannia Aachen.