Rot-Weiss Essen comes under the bikes in Mannheim. RWE was not the worse team over long distances. But Waldhof just succeeded.
The mood at Rot-white food could hardly have been better before the game at Waldhof Mannheim. RWE collected seven points in the recent three competitive games, and this season was still completely without defeat. But that changed late Saturday afternoon. Because in Mannheim, the Esseners lost 1: 6 (0: 2) despite committed performance.
Mannheim started lively and laced RWE in the first few minutes. However, the home side did not score a goal and so the Esseners quickly managed to make the game more balanced. An initial phase developed at a lot of speed, but also with many bad passes. The first conclusion belonged to the guests: the attempt by Kaito Müzua in the sixth minute was not a problem for Thijmen Nijhuis in the Waldhof goal.
Pechvogel Ríos-Alonso
Essen now dared to aggressively, but in the middle of the first careful urge phase it fell 1-0 for Mannheim. After a Klünter-Herz, Felix Lohkemper was in the right place on the long post (11th). His direct acceptance falsified José-Enrique Ríos-Alonso unsustainably into the short corner. In return, RWE had the chance to equalize. The flank of Ramien Safi reached Jannik Mause’s head, but he could no longer push the ball towards the goal.
Four minutes later, Mause scored – his goal didn’t count because of offside. Bitter for Mause, who is still waiting for his first goal this season. In the 2023/24 season, he was still a third division goalkeeper in the dress of FC Ingolstadt. Even less round than at Mause, however, it went for Ríos-Alonso this afternoon. After 25 minutes, the defender, who had already deflected the shot to 0: 1, also undergone an own goal. Actually, he wanted to clarify a cross from Kennedy Okpala, but drog the ball into his own network.
Post saved for RWE, Gjasula sees red
Kennedy Okpala from SV Waldhof Mannheim against Essen Ramien Safi
This time RWE again showed a good reaction, but again the agile Mizua centimeter was missing for the connection. The Esseners tried to shoot the game again. They also recorded the large of offensive campaigns, but there was no accuracy and lucky. Mannheim, on the other hand, showed himself ice cold in front of the goal and almost scored 3-0 shortly before the break. The post alone saved Niklas Hoffmann for RWE with Niklas Hoffmann.
After the break, the Esseners increased the pressure again – also because the SVW willingly left them the ball. At the back, however, the home side stood safe and so RWE slowly but surely ran the time away. Mannheim limited himself almost exclusively to the counter, but brought the opponent into trouble. A red card against Klaus Gjasula also made life difficult for RWE. The veteran came much too late against Okpala, but did not really hit him. A tough decision.
Shipnoski with three -pack
Even after that, food tried to initiate the turn again, but nothing wanted to succeed that day. Quite different with the Mannheimers, for which Nicklas Shipnoski made everything clear with his double pack within four minutes. RWE at least managed to score: Substitute Marek Janssen made his first league goal this season – he could hardly be happy about it, since Waldhof only restored the old distance in a penalty. The scorer was Shipnoski for the third time this Saturday.
On a day on which the home side apparently succeeded, Joker Terrence Boyd has also been doing his first division for around ten months. Then it was over. Mannheim, who recently did not score twice in his own stadium, celebrated six goals and jumped twelve. Essen missed the leap into the top group and slipped to ninth place.
RWE welcomes Hoffenheim II on Wednesday (7 p.m.), Mannheim will compete at TSV Havelse on Tuesday (7 p.m.).
Our sources:
- Game between Mannheim and Essen on September 27th, 2025
- Magenta sport
