Rot-Weiss met Hansa Rostock at the Stadion an der Hafenstrasse on Saturday in the third league, and the match ended 1:1. By then the hosts had already built a run of five games without defeat, and the visitors were looking to steady things after a heavy loss to Köln. To be fair, neither side created much of a clear opportunity all afternoon.
Maximilian Krauss gave Hansa the lead in the fifty-fourth minute, and the visitors held on for a while. The hosts pressed forward but could not find a way through until Semir Telalovic struck in the eighty-ninth minute. And here's the thing — the game had been decided inside twenty minutes, then decided again in the final moments.
Rot-Weiss made changes throughout the second half, bringing on Noah Pesch and Marvin Obuz together in the sixty-fifth minute. Lucas Brumme came off in the seventy-fourth after picking up a booking, and Marek Janssen replaced him. Hansa turned to the kids at the other end, swapping Peter Kiedl for Ahmet Gurleyen in the sixty-second.
The statistics tell you most of what happened: ten shots for the hosts, five on target, and nine wide. Hansa managed three shots on target from four attempts, which is more efficient but hardly generous with the ball. Both sides held fifty per cent possession, and neither created a big chance all game.
Rot-Weiss sit third with fourteen points after seven matches, two wins and one loss. Hansa are fifth with twelve points, having drawn three of their seven outings. The result keeps the hosts within touching distance of the top four, and the visitors remain in the mix.
