"Things look good right now at the top of the table"

The Borussia Dortmund U23s went up against the team next to them in the league, Viktoria Köln, in the Sportpark Höhenberg on Sunday afternoon. The hosts had also accumulated 13 points in the current season, albeit having played two more games than the Black and Yellows. Jan Siewert made two changes to the starting eleven that began in the victory at home against Rödinghausen. Lars Dietz and Beyhan Ametov started in place of Julian Weigl and Jadon Sancho.

The hosts made the better start to the game. Dominik Reimann, tending goal for Dortmund, was given a stern test as early as the third minute when he steered a shot from close range out over the bar. Janni Serra had the Borussia men's first good chance of the encounter in the seventh minute, but his shot from a tight angle was successfully parried by the Cologne goalkeeper.

Mainka gets the winning goal after 30 minutes

Serra introduced a measure of calm into a somewhat hectic opening phase, and played intelligently going forward. After a quarter hour, he missed the goal by mere centimetres. Patrick Mainka did better on the half hour mark. The Cologne men were initially able to clear after a corner kick taken by Patrick Pflücke. Beyhan Ametov, however, retrieved the ball and returned it dangerously in front of goal. Mainka was ideally positioned to tuck away, giving BVB a well-deserved lead.

The goal awoke the hosts from their slumbers. Not five minutes had passed after the lead had been taken when Simon Handle popped up unmarked in front of Dominik Reimann, but missed from a short distance. Relief for BVB, who were presented with an excellent opportunity once more two minutes later to extend their lead to 2-0, but David Sauerland was not quite on target. Just before the end of the first passage of play, red alert was sounded in the Dortmund boys' 18-yard box. Dominik Reimann offered up a spectacular save to push Kemal Rüzgar's shot onto the bar.

Goalkeeper Reimann makes a number of heroic saves

The second half began in as exciting a manner as the first had ended. After just three minutes Mike Wunderlich cross-examined Dominik Reimann's goalkeeping prowess, with Reimann saving to concede a corner. The Cologne eleven upped the pressure further and further. Reimann was called on once again to make an urgent save against Wunderlich. During this sustained spell of pressure from Viktoria, BVB went on the counter. Herbert Bockhorn picked up the ball after it had been moved up field by Michael Eberwein and Beyhan Ametov, though his shot soughed just passed the right post.

BVB had withstood the pressure exerted upon them, and challenged themselves once more to play to some attacking football. 928 Spectators witnessed a courageous BVB team dripping with self-confidence and ambition. The hosts then threw everything forwards again. BVB had a number of opportunities on the counter, but were unable to capitalise on them. Jan Siewert made a change with 15 minutes remaining to his attack, bringing on Kampetsis and Hanke for Ametov and Serra. Towards the end of the encounter, the Cologne men began to turn the screw once more. Nonetheless, the Black and Yellow remained resilient in defence, warding off attacks intelligently, and allowing their opposition no clear cut opportunities.

Siewert: "We stayed calm"

Trainer Jan Siewert made clear his satisfaction with his team after the match: "They understood that you've really got to play bravely here. We did not want to simply line up at the back. In the second half it was only natural that Cologne increased the pressure, but we stayed calm, and saw the game out sensibly. Things look good right now at the top of the table, but we have to maintain our focus and go one better against Aachen on Wednesday." 
Timo Lammert