BVB celebrates dream start in the PLIC | OneFootball

Roster

For the match against FC Fulham’s youth team, coach Daniel Rios fielded a squad consisting primarily of U23 players. Luke Fahrenhorst and Jan-Luca Riedl from the U19 team had traveled to London with the team. Mathis Albert, Kaua Prates, Luca Reggiani, and Justin Lerma—a quartet with professional experience—also joined the team.

Match Summary

Just four minutes into the game, the Borussians were already posing a threat in front of the home team’s goal. However, the first early goal of the match would come immediately afterward at the other end of the field. Following a Fulham corner that found striker Jose Sani’s head at the near post, Silas Ostrzinski was forced to make his first save (5th minute). After this wake-up call, however, BVB increasingly took control of the game, though they initially struggled to break down the deep-lying home team in their build-up play.

The tone of the match was now set. While Fulham found it increasingly difficult to penetrate the danger zone, the BVB youth team fared better: Fadi Zarqelain converted a fine long pass from Mathis Albert in the 25th minute to score the well-deserved equalizer. Just 180 seconds later, it was the lively Albert himself who, after a misplaced pass by the English side, gratefully collected the ball and placed it neatly into the opponent’s net from about 17 meters out. The visitors headed into the locker room with a 2-1 lead.

In the second half, the pattern remained the same: Daniel Rios’s team immediately pressed for a third goal, which didn’t take long to arrive. Jesper Verlaat headed a corner kick from Takato Yamamoto successfully over the line (52nd minute). Five minutes later, with no assistance—thanks to a brilliant solo effort—it was Justin Lerma who scored the game-sealing 4–1 goal for the Black and Yellow team before having to leave the field injured.

Right up until the final minutes, the defending champions created further scoring chances through captain Azhil (82'), Degener (90'+1), and Ngambia (90'+5); in the meantime, Ostrzinski confidently thwarted a Fulham chance. Thanks to this mature performance after falling behind early, Borussians’ youth team can celebrate their first three points in the Premier League International Cup!

Quotes

Daniel Rios (Head Coach): “Overall, this was a well-deserved victory for us, especially since the team reacted well after falling behind early and turned the game around. We controlled the match for 90 minutes and created many scoring opportunities. I’m pleased that we delivered such a great performance against Fulham with this lineup.”

Outlook

Borussia Dortmund’s U19 team will face Rot-Weiss Essen on September 5 as part of the DFB Youth Round (11 a.m., training facility in Brackel). The U23s have an away game against VfB Hilden in the Regionalliga West this coming Saturday (August 29, 2 p.m.). In the Premier League International Cup, BVB’s youth teams won’t play again until December 15, when they’ll face Aston Villa as their second opponent in the group stage.

BVB Youth: Ostrzinski – Verlaat (58’ Fahrenhorst), Azhil, Wüstenhagen (63’ Krempicki), Riedl, Zarqelain (74’ Ngambia), Lerma (63’ Degener), Albert (74’ Wessels), Prates, Yamamoto, Reggiani