Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is getting serious in the promotion race and just keeps on winning. Not even VfL Bochum’s U21 team could stop the Kleeblätter.
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is increasingly emerging as a serious contender for promotion. Following their well-deserved 1-0 victory over VfL Bochum’s U21 team, the Kleeblätter are now just three points behind the top two teams, Fortuna Köln and FC Schalke 04 II.
“We’re doing it like the squirrels,” said RWO boss Marcus Uhlig happily after the victory over Bochum, which was never in doubt. Once again, the team has moved a step closer to the top of the standings.
Earlier this week, a site inspection of the Niederrhein Stadium was conducted with city officials and other stakeholders to get the stadium up to 3rd League standards as quickly as possible.
This infrastructure may be needed sooner than anticipated just a few weeks ago. Thanks to the victory over VfL Bochum II, Oberhausen is now unbeaten in six games in the Regionalliga West, on top of the 3-2 cup win against Rot-Weiss Essen.
As a team, we once again put in a strong performance on the field to control the game. Together, all our players defended very well and didn’t allow many chances.
Sebastian Gunkel
Oberhausen’s coach, Sebastian Gunkel, praised the team after a convincing 90 minutes, which—thanks to a special promotion—drew a slightly larger crowd than usual this time. 2,878 spectators were in attendance, including many children under 13 who were admitted free of charge. “As a team, we once again put in a strong performance on the field to control the game. We defended very well as a unit and didn’t allow many chances,” Gunkel said happily. “We also did really well with the ball all the way into the final third.”
However, Oberhausen failed to seal the deal early on. With a goal differential of +2, they’ve already earned 27 points. “But in the final third—and I have to criticize this to some extent in a game like this, when things are clearly going one way—you have to create clearer chances, harness that determination and conviction, and score more goals.”
That’s definitely been a shortcoming so far this season. We need to work on that. And then our promotion dreams could really come true, because there hasn’t been a truly dominant team in the Regionalliga so far this season.
