U23 win Regionalliga derby against Schalke | OneFootball

Starting point

The U23 went into the little derby carrying the momentum of their 2-0 win in Hilden three days earlier. Even so, before the matchday the Black and Yellows were behind the Royal Blues in the table, with Schalke having taken nine points from their five matches (three wins, two defeats) — one more than Dortmund. Borussia, however, had only played four matches and were still unbeaten (two wins, two draws).

Line-up

Dortmund coach Daniel Rios made four changes to his starting XI: Arne Wessels was absent due to a suspension after a yellow-red card. Tim Degener, Luke Fahrenhorst and Nanitonda Quiala dropped to the bench. In their place, Ayman Azhil, Jan Riedl, Fadi Zarqelain and Takata Yamamoto came into the starting line-up.

Match summary

Dortmund’s U23 took the lead with their first notable chance of the evening: Connor Krempicki played a short corner from the left to Takata Yamamoto, who then laid it off to Ayman Azhil, and the captain fired low into the bottom-left corner from 18 meters for 1-0 (13’). The hosts could have doubled their lead shortly afterwards, but a Schalke defender made a last-ditch clearance ahead of Kevin Mutove, who was ready to finish (17’).

But Dortmund were celebrating again soon after: following a ball win in midfield, Azhil switched play quickly and found Mutove, who slotted home from just under 16 meters into the bottom-left corner for 2-0 (21’).

After that, the visitors grew into the game a little better, but they were unable to break down the BVB defense before half-time.

After the break, BVB pushed for the decisive goal. Mutove hit a fierce shot on goal after a pass from Verlaat, but Schalke goalkeeper Johannes Siebeking turned the ball behind for a corner (53’). Moments later, Yamamoto’s shot from the edge of the box hit the post (54’). And only a short while after that, Yamamoto curled a free-kick on target, but once again Siebeking prevented the goal with his fingertips (55’).

Instead of the game being put to bed, it became tense again in the closing stages. Goalkeeper Silas Ostrzinski tried to reach a high cross and unfortunately collided with an opposing player in the process (72’). Yassin Ben Balla converted the resulting penalty to make it 2-1 (74’). Substitute Luke Fahrenhorst decided the match in stoppage time with a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner for 3-1 (90’+1).

Reaction

Daniel Rios: “We created several chances and allowed very little. Unfortunately, we once again failed to make it all clear earlier. At 2-1, of course, it gets tight again. But the substitutes in particular brought fresh energy. Over the whole game, it was a deserved win.”

Outlook

The U23 continue on Saturday afternoon with an away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach’s U23. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. at the Grenzlandstadion.

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