Third division side Rot-Weiss Essen celebrated their fourth home win in a row against SC Freiburg II (4-3). Two key players were missing.

After the defeat at Preußen Münster (1-2), Rot-Weiss Essen head coach Christoph Dabrowski demanded a significant improvement in performance from his team in their home game against SC Freiburg II:

“For us, it’s about making progress after the last game. We have to get ourselves to a different energy level and put in a passionate performance.”

No sooner said than done: RWE defeated SCF’s second team 4-3 in a crazy game and regained fourth place in the table. “Making progress,” “a different energy level,” and “passion” were all attributes that RWE displayed for long stretches on Saturday afternoon at Hafenstraße. Even after conceding two goals shortly before half-time and a third after the break, the team showed great mental strength to turn the game around completely in the closing stages.

It was more the poor finishing and sloppy defending that cost RWE a home win or even a point. The Essen team can and must improve in these areas. “We defended too naively. But we believed we could turn it around. That’s why pride prevails. Nevertheless, we have to address the issues,” Dabrowski explained afterwards.

Of course, the fact that two important defensive pillars were missing against Freiburg II in Felix Götze (flu) and captain Vinko Sapina (knee problems) also played a part.

Felix Götze resumed running training today and will train normally tomorrow. I expect him to be available again on Tuesday. Vinko tried to play in the final training session but still had some minor problems. We didn’t want to take any risks with the midweek game. However, he trained individually again today. We’re doing everything we can to get him back on the pitch on Tuesday.

Christoph Dabrowski.

It remains to be seen whether the two key players will be back for the upcoming away game at 1860 Munich (February 6, 7 p.m.). However, Dabrowski was optimistic when asked by RS after the final whistle, as was Björn Rother:

“Felix Götze started running again today and will train normally tomorrow. I expect him to be available again on Tuesday. Vinko tried to play in the final training session, but still had some minor problems. We didn’t want to take any risks with the midweek game. However, he trained individually again today. We are doing everything we can to ensure that he is back on the pitch on Tuesday. Björn Rother (ill, editor’s note) will also be back in training tomorrow. He has completed two days of running training.”