Essen leapfrog BVB II in the table
RW Essen beat Alemannia Aachen 2-1 to go top of the German Regionalliga West table, albeit having played two games more.
Second-half goals from Dennis Grote and Maximillian Pronichev were enough for Christian Neidhart’s side to leapfrog Borussia Dortmund II.
Wer A-achen sagt, muss auch B-esiegt sagen. 🤭#RWEAAC #nurderrwe #immeRWEiter pic.twitter.com/S8vFjEhlXY
— Rot-Weiss Essen (@rot_weiss_essen) May 15, 2021
First half
The hosts dominated the first half and had opportunities to go ahead. Oguzhan Kefkir was found in space on the left and his cross was chested down by Simon Engelmann, but his shot was straight at Joshua Mroß.
Amara Conde’s free-kick was also read well by Mroß, who punched the ball away from goal.
The best chance for RW Essen came just before half-time when a brilliant team move opened up Aachen. Engelmann got in behind the defence and pulled it back for Marco Kehl-Gomez but his effort from close range was superbly cleared off the line.
Second half
The pressure eventually told in the second half. A patient move in the 50th minute ended with Kehl-Gomez passing inside to Grote, who turned past a defender and unleashed a piledriver with his left foot – giving Mroß no chance in goal.
It was another dominant half by the Whites and it was just a matter of when the second goal would arrive. Daniel Heber had a header cleared off the line, while Engelmann surprisingly spurned a few chances.
The second goal did come eventually when Conde’s pull-back from the right was turned in by Pronichev in the 72nd minute.
What does it mean?
Mergim Fejzullahu headed in at the near post to pull one back for the visitors with two minutes remaining, but Essen held on to win their 25th game of the season and go top of the league.
Essen have won their last six games in a row as they pile the pressure on BVB II, who are two points behind them with two games in hand.
Aachen are 13th in the table and are comfortable in mid-table. They have won just one of their last five league games.
What’s next?
They face fifth-placed Koln II away on Sunday while Borussia Dortmund II play their first game in a month, against Straelen.
Close at the bottom ahead of six-pointer
At the bottom, things are getting interesting as just five points separates the bottom five with one team going down.
RW Ahlen are currently bottom but they are now just one point off safety after they won only their fifth game of the season, beating Rodinghausen 2-1.
Bergisch Gladbach are now looking over their shoulders but they have a game in hand on Ahlen. The two sides face each other at the weekend in an enormous six-pointer.
