Things went haywire at Rot-Weiss Essen, especially just before halftime, with VfL also taking home a point. Meanwhile, MSV had to admit defeat.

After FC Schalke 04 took the lead on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld, moving one point ahead of Bayer 04 Leverkusen overnight, the Werkself faced Fortuna Düsseldorf at home on Sunday morning. In theory, it should have been a clear win for the still-undefeated Leverkusen against the eleventh-placed team in the U17 Bundesliga West – but in practice, things turned out differently.

Leverkusen failed to take the lead against Düsseldorf for 90 minutes, and the game ended 0-0. Schalke and Bayer 04 are now level on points at the top of the table, but Schalke take first place thanks to their six-goal superiority.

BVB narrowly beats RWO

The new closest pursuers are the U17 juniors of Borussia Dortmund, who reduced the gap to the top to five points with a 1-0 away win at Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. Nick Cherny scored the golden goal of the day (38th minute). RWO, meanwhile, must look down the table. One place above the relegation zone, they are only two points ahead of Viktoria Köln. Bielefeld lurk three points behind Oberhausen with a game in hand.

VfL Bochum, on the other hand, slip to fourth place. At SC Paderborn, currently fifth, it even looked like defeat early on. Kayonte George (16th) and Pedro Restrepo Naranjo (45th) put SCP 2-0 up at half-time. But in the second half, right-back Kacper Koscierski turned the game around and scored twice to earn David Siebers’ side a point (63rd/86th).

RWE: Preßler shines with three goals

It was also a draw, but with twice as many goals, between Rot-Weiss Essen, who went into the matchday in sixth place, and Viktoria Köln (previously 13th). In a turbulent game at Seumannstraße, the teams drew 4-4.

Thierry Abessouguie gave Cologne an early lead (6th minute). In the minutes before the break, events came thick and fast. First, Boran Özbek (45th minute) and Mats Preßler (45+1st minute) turned the game around with a double strike. But before the half-time whistle, Viktoria’s Keny Rakowiecki made it 2-2 (45+2nd minute).

RWE started the second half better and took the lead through a penalty from Preßler. However, the visitors did not give up and even turned the game around once again. Felix Albers (69th minute) and Abessouguie again ensured that it looked like a surprise away win until shortly before the end. But the last word went to Preßler, who was outstanding on the day, scoring his hat-trick in the third minute of stoppage time to make it 4-4.

Duisburg loses to Gladbach

MSV Duisburg, on the other hand, suffered another setback. The Zebras lost 2-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach. After a goalless first half, Christos Venos (60th minute) and Mathieu Nguefack (83rd minute) scored for the Foals.