Rot-Weiss Essen and TSV 1860 Munich drew 1-1 in their first 3rd division match of the season. Two decisions provided plenty of talking points. José-Enrique Ríos Alonso saw a “fair draw in a good game” between Rot-Weiss Essen and TSV 1860 Munich on Friday evening. At least, that’s what the scorer of the 1-0 goal told Magenta.

“My players know what they’re doing,” said their coach Uwe Koschinat. He too had seen a strong first half from his team, which had largely neutralized the prominent Löwen duo Kevin Vollland and Florian Niederlechner. He had also seen that RWE slackened off in the second half and was no longer able to contain the opposition’s offense.

It was all the more frustrating that Munich scored the 1-1 equalizer in a phase in which, according to the 53-year-old, “nothing came to mind.” RWE had been lethargic and uninspired in some situations after the break. But at the time of the equalizer, Essen had calmed the game down. “Until the Lions started asking themselves how they got into our penalty area.” The answer: through a long ball from Sean Dulic, which Florian Niederlechner converted with a spectacular lob to make it 1-1.

But was the Lions’ new signing offside? Players and fans reacted angrily. But even the TV pictures did not provide a clear answer. Koschinat was also unsure. “The run was very good, our center backs were so sure that he was onside that, in my opinion, only Jakob Hoffmann, who was furthest away from the ball, could have been offside. Our center backs probably thought they didn’t need to go down. But actually, the rule is that when you have a free foot, you should cover the depth.“

Nevertheless: ”Niederlechner has a feel for it; the striker always has the advantage. It would be bitter if the hundredth replay showed that he was a few centimeters offside after all. But that doesn’t help us.”

Especially since RWE also benefited from a referee’s decision on Friday evening. More precisely, from the fairness of their opponents. In the 50th minute, Tobias Kraulich, who had already been cautioned, brought down Volland near the penalty area. It was a clear foul and should have resulted in a yellow-red card. However, the former national player got right back up and ran toward the goal. “Outstanding of him,” Koschinat praised Volland. “But he’s a mental player, he’s shown that in the Bundesliga. He’s one of those guys who says, if I have the chance to go for goal, I’ll try. I don’t think he just showed fair play because it was a foul. He saw the much bigger chance to go for goal.”

The RWE coach continued: “To be honest, we were lucky that the referee didn’t decide on a foul and a yellow card after the fact. We couldn’t have complained about that.”