Dortmund's U23 stay unbeaten | OneFootball

Starting Position

With three wins and two draws from their first five matches, the U23 traveled to the away game at Grenzlandstadion in excellent form. After the derby win against Schalke 04 on Tuesday, coach Daniel Rios' team was brimming with confidence.

Line-up

Rios initially planned with a slightly changed starting eleven: Nanitonda Quiala was set to start in central defense for Jan-Luca Riedl, who in turn was to move up into Malik Hodroj’s position. Shortly before kick-off, however, an injury to Jesper Verlaat during the warm-up forced another reshuffle: Riedl moved back into central defense, with Hodroj returning to his usual role as full-back.

Match Summary

The home side started aggressively: three corners in the opening five minutes immediately caused problems, with Silas Ostrzinski tipping the most dangerous one over the bar with a strong save. BVB grew into the game through transition moments, without initially being able to make them count. As the match went on, however, the Black and Yellows increasingly took control – smart pressing and fluid combinations repeatedly put Kevin Mutove in promising positions. In the 37th minute, Silas Ostrzinski was already beaten at the second attempt from Gladbach, but the refereeing team rightly ruled offside. The teams went into the break at 0-0.

Gladbach came out of the interval with renewed energy and created a good chance early on. BVB responded: Krempicki missed in the 52nd minute, and Riedl’s header from a corner went just inches wide. At the other end, Ostrzinski had to make a desperate save against Uwakhonye in the 64th minute. Substitute Arne Wessels added fresh impetus to the attack and set up a great chance for Malik Hodroj in the 84th minute, but his shot flew over the bar. In the end, despite having a slight edge in chances, BVB had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

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