After more than 90 hard-fought minutes, Borussia Dortmund's U23s had to settle for a 2-2 draw in a tight match with FC Erzgebirge Aue. The goalscorers for the Black & Yellows were Paul Besong after 13 minutes and Antonios Papadopoulos in the 90th minute. With 50 points, the team have set a new BVB record in the 3. Liga.

The scenario: After the big 5-0 away win in Lübeck, coach Jan Zimmermann's team were hoping to extend their good run of form against Aue and become the first BVB U23 team to pick up more than 49 points in a 3. Liga season. 

Personnel matters: Zimmermann musste sein Team auf mehreren Positionen umbauen: Für Franz Pfanne (Gelbsperre) rückte Antonis Aidonis in die Startelf und verteidigte neben Antonios Papadopoulos. Da Ole Pohlmann am Freitagnachmittag noch in den Profi-Kader rückte, spielte Michael Eberwein für ihn im Mittelfeld. In Paris Brunner bot der BVB zudem einen U19-Spieler auf, für den Rodney Elongo-Yombo zunächst auf der Bank Platz nahm. 

The match:Paris Brunner created several dangerous good chances to open the scoring in the opening minutes against the team from the west of Saxony. The young Black & Yellows were finally able to celebrate in the 13th minute: after winning the ball in midfield, Ayman Azhil played a through pass to Julian Hettwer, whose low cross was turned into the net by centre-forward Paul Besong.

The visitors then tried to take control of the game, but initially found few gaps in build-up and found themselves moving sideways. It took until the 21st minute for Aue to create their first chance: a misplaced cross flew straight at goal, but Marcel Lotka was on hand to steer the ball over the crossbar. Just six minutes later, Aue defender Tim Danhof misjudged a long ball and looked to have been caught out by the onrushing Paul Besong. The BVB striker was brought down, but the referee did not deem it to be a foul.

The visitors were playing with more intent and were starting to threaten the BVB goal. The Black & Yellows, for their part, were no longer able to find their stride in transition compared to earlier in the game. In the 37th minute, Aue right-back Tim Danhof broke into space on the flank and delivered a cross towards the head of Mirnes Pepic, who got the better of Patrick Göbel in the aerial duel and nodded home to draw the two sides level at 1-1. 

Shortly after the second half kicked off, Guillermo Bueno intercepted a ball just outside the penalty area. The left-back then dribbled his way into the visitors' penalty area and took a shot - but the ball skimmed just wide of the target. Down the other end, the West Saxons were particularly dangerous on their right flank, with right-back Danhof repeatedly pushing up the pitch and putting in dangerous crosses.

The game now became something of a midfield battle, with both teams struggling to play their way through. However, BVB were eventually able to make a breakthrough after seizing possession and getting it forward quickly to Julian Hettwer, who made his way into the box and could only be stopped by a foul. The referee pointed to the penalty spot. Franz Roggow stepped up in the absence of the usual taker Ole Pohlmann, but his effort flew just wide of the target. 

In the 66th minute, Aue were unable to capitalise on a great chance to take the lead: after a misplaced pass, right-winger Steffen Meuer pounced on the ball and looked to have finished past goalkeeper Marcel Lotka, but Papadopoulos got back to make a heroic goalline clearance and keep BVB level. The Violets were looking to take control of the game and pick out gaps in the BVB defence. The Black & Yellows, on the other hand, were happy to sit back and wait for the chance to unleash one of their dangerous counter-attacks, several of which almost led to goals. 

The final phase then had it all: Patrick Göbel curled a free-kick in from the left in the 90th minute and BVB defender Antonios Papadopoulos headed the ball into the net to send the crowd into raptures and seize a 2-1 lead. But Aue struck back once again: a corner kick from the visitors was lofted into the penalty area, where Majetschak was able to equalise from close range in the 95th minute to make it 2-2.

Outlook: This coming Saturday (4 May) the Black & Yellows will travel to the Grünwalder stadium to face TSV 1860 Munich. Kick-off is scheduled for 14:00 CEST. 

U23s: Lotka – Bueno, Aidonis, Papadopoulos, Göbel – Roggow, Azhil, Eberwein – Brunner (60, Elongo-Yombo), Besong (75, Butler), Hettwer

Goals: 1-0 Besong (13), 1-1 Pepic (37), 2-1 Papadopoulos (90), 2-2 Majetschak (90+5)