BVB youngsters make dream start in Premier League International Cup | OneFootball

Personnel

For the match against Fulham FC’s youth side, coach Daniel Rios relied on a squad made up primarily of U23 players. From the U19s, Luke Fahrenhorst and Jan-Luca Riedl also travelled to London. Mathis Albert, Kaua Prates, Luca Reggiani and Justin Lerma also rounded out the team as a quartet with first-team experience.

Match progress

After just four minutes, the young Borussians threatened the hosts’ goal for the first time. The game’s first early goal, however, came immediately afterwards at the other end. Following a Fulham corner that found striker Jose Sani’s head at the near post, Silas Ostrzinski had to pick the ball out of his net for the first time (5’). After that wake-up call, BVB gradually took control, but initially still struggled in the build-up against the deep-defending home side.

The direction of the match was now clear. While Fulham found it increasingly difficult to get into dangerous areas, BVB’s youngsters did better: a fine long pass from Mathis Albert was converted by Fadi Zarqelain in the 25th minute for a deserved equaliser. Just 180 seconds later, it was the lively Albert himself who gratefully accepted a misplaced pass by the English side and slotted the ball home from around 17 metres. The visitors went into the break with a 2-1 lead.

The pattern remained unchanged in the second half: Daniel Rios’ team immediately pushed for a third goal, and it did not take long to come. Jesper Verlaat headed a Takato Yamamoto corner over the line in the 52nd minute. Entirely on his own, after a superb individual move, Justin Lerma made it 4-1 for the Black & Yellows five minutes later, before having to leave the field with an injury.

Right up until the closing minutes, the defending champions created further chances through captain Azhil (82’), Degener (90+1’) and Ngambia (90+5’); in between, Ostrzinski safely dealt with a Fulham opportunity. Thanks to this mature performance after falling behind early, BVB’s youngsters can celebrate their first three points in the Premier League International Cup!

Reaction

Daniel Rios (head coach): “Overall, it was a deserved win for us, also because the team reacted well after going behind early and turned the game around. We controlled the match for 90 minutes and created many chances. I’m delighted that, in this line-up, we delivered such a great performance against Fulham.”

Outlook

Borussia Dortmund’s U19s will face Rot-Weiss Essen on 5 September in the DFB youth round (11:00, training ground in Brackel). The U23s, meanwhile, have an away game at VfB Hilden next Saturday in the Regionalliga West (29 August, 14:00). BVB’s youngsters will not be back in Premier League International Cup action until 15 December, when their second group-stage opponents will be Aston Villa.

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

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.