Rot-Weiss Essen ends the first half of the 3rd league with a home win. The hosts had to put up a tough fight against VfB Lübeck in order to emerge victorious.
It was close but deserved: Red and white food won 1-0 against VfB Lübeck on Friday evening (December 15, 2023). Isaiah Young scored the goal of the day. Coach Christoph Dabrowski’s team has thus won the first half of the season and remains in the race for the promotion places. Lübeck still has to fight against relegation.
RWE started the game energetically. The Essen team often had the ball, but initially had no idea how to overcome the defensive guests from the north. However, Christoph Dabrowski’s team remained stubborn and tried again and again.
Lübeck counterattack
The Lübeck team tried their luck on the counterattack, but RWE kept calm and kept an overview and didn’t allow themselves to be surprised. That’s why the game plodded along for a while without anything noteworthy happening.
Chances to score were in short supply, also because RWE lacked precision in passing and long-range shots. All of this played into the hands of Lübeck, who became more confident with every minute in which they survived the game without conceding a goal. However, they missed making their own mark. And that was to take revenge: a final, committed attack from RWE brought them into the lead.
RWE made the game
Full-back Lucas Brumme gets far too much space on the left wing. He uses this and looks for the incoming attacker Isaiah Young via a cross. He holds out his right outer instep and overcomes goalkeeper Philipp Klewin to make it 1-0 (45th).
The picture didn’t change in the second round either. RWE took the game, Lübeck stood at the back and tried to prevent the second goal.
Lübeck only became dangerous with a free kick after 52 minutes. Janek Sternberg tried it directly from 22 meters, RWE goalkeeper Jakob Golz underestimated the ball and just steered it onto the crossbar.
With luck and skill
As a result, Lübeck also increased and tried to equalize. However, RWE remained focused and courageously defended their own goal. But they didn’t get a preliminary decision because the Dabrowski team didn’t use their counterattack options precisely enough.
In the end, the guests from the north threw everything forward once again. With a lot of luck and skill, RWE defended their lead until the final whistle. Golz had to scrape the ball off the goal line at the last second.
