Too many chances squandered: U23 miss out on win in Paderborn

In partnership with

Borussia Dortmund

·21 September 2026

Too many chances squandered: U23 miss out on win in Paderborn

Line-up

Dortmund coach Daniel Rios made three changes to his starting XI compared to the 2-1 win over Rhynern. Jesper Verlaat, Finn Fuchs and Mussa Kaba replaced Ayman Azhil, Mario Pejazic and Ismael Idriss Mansaray.

Match summary

Dortmund created the first attacking threat. Tim Degener fired a shot from more than 20 metres out, but Paderborn goalkeeper Florian Pruhs got his fingertips to the ball and tipped it over the crossbar (8').

OneFootball Videos

After that, both teams were involved in an evenly matched contest without any exciting moments in either penalty area. It was therefore fitting that another long-range effort produced the next chance. But once again Pruhs came out on top in the SCP goal, parrying Fadi Zarqelain’s fierce shot to the side (28').

Shortly afterwards, a blackout in the Paderborn defence gifted BVB the lead. Under pressure from Degener, Tristan Zobel played a far too short square pass in front of the penalty area. Arne Wessels reacted quickly, collected the ball and fired into the empty net for 1-0 (32').

But the home side responded immediately. Neo Stacziwa finished off a long pass from the right wing into the box to make it 1-1 (34').

Dortmund could have retaken the lead before the break. Zarqelain played the ball in from the right wing, but at the far post Mutove leaned back too much from five metres out and was therefore unable to turn home the 2-1 while unmarked (39'). Mutove had another good chance as well, but after a cross from the left he was denied from close range by the again impressive Pruhs (45+2').

After the break, it took a while for the first moment of note in the second half. Ruben Müller rose highest at the near post following a Paderborn corner, but his header missed the Dortmund goal (60'). Degener then tested Pruhs with two powerful long-range shots in quick succession (70'/71').

Wessels eventually had a huge chance to score the winner, racing through on goal after a long pass from his own half, but once again Pruhs won the duel, saving his shot with his foot for a corner (79').

The pressure from the Black and Yellows kept growing. Wessels was sent through on goal again with another pass in behind. The Paderborn goalkeeper took out the striker in front of the penalty area and was shown a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity (84'). Despite their numerical advantage, however, Dortmund were unable to find a second goal in the end.

Reaction

Daniel Rios: “We allowed one chance in the entire game, and that led to the goal. We created enough chances ourselves to win this match and did a lot to take the three points home with us. Of course, it’s frustrating that when you put in a performance like that, you don’t come away with all three points. I think we controlled the game very well over the full 90 minutes, stepped it up again in the second half, and never neglected our defensive shape.”