Match Report
U23s lose 3-1 away to Rot-Weiss Essen
The scenario: The U23s brought their mini results crisis of four matches without a victory to an end by beating Aachen last weekend. The aim going into the clash away to their regional rivals was now to improve upon their poor away record too. Dortmund had only picked up one of their eight points on their travels. However, the pressure prior to the little derby was on RWE. With five points on the board, the team from Hafenstraße had made a bumpy start to the season. The men from Essen had especially struggled in front of their home supporters.
Personnel matters: Due to the injury-enforced absence of Almugera Kabar (broken nose), BVB coach Jan Zimmermann made one change to the back four. The role of left-back was assumed by Baran Mogultay. Kjell Wätjen started in place of Antonio Foti in central midfield. And Babis Drakis also dropped to the substitutes' bench. He was replaced in the starting XI by Cole Campbell.
The match & analysis: The match was not even four minutes old when the Essen goal came under threat for the first time. After a possession turnover in their own half, BVB quickly switched the play. Following fine solo play, Campbell fed the ball into the path of Hettwer who was denied by RWE goalkeeper Jakob Golz from a tight angle.
The first setback for the Black & Yellows came five minutes after the first opportunity. Right-back Jessen was elbowed in the face off the ball. The Dortmund player then went to ground and had to be substituted off a short while afterwards. He was replaced on the pitch by Patrick Göbel. That in turn led to an additional substitution, as the reserves are only allowed to have three players over the age of 23 years on the pitch at the same time. Göbel would have been the fourth such player, meaning that another experienced head needed to leave the field of play. That ended up being Michael Eberwein, who was replaced by Rodney Elongo-Yombo.
And things were to get even more bitter for BVB. With more than 15,857 spectators watching on, including several hundred fans from Dortmund, Essen increasingly found their way into the game – and were soon celebrating. Torben Müsel fired unstoppably into the U23s' net from 18 metres out to make it 1-0 to Essen (19). Spurred on by the lead, the hosts put together a real power play that culminated in two chances: BVB goalkeeper Marcel Lotka first saved a shot from Julian Eitschberger, then he made a save from Joseph Boyamba with his foot.
But Lotka was picking the ball out of the back of his net again soon after that. Boyamba struck the upright from close range and the ball eventually found its way to Ramien Safi. The midfielder did not hesitate for long and fired the ball into the net from close range (25). Even after making it 2-0, the home team did not let up and linked up sensationally going forward. The BVB defence, usually a bulwark, looked really shaky. In particular, the gaps between the defence and the midfield were too big. Another incident that occurred in the first period was the goal that made it 3-0. A long ball was elegantly controlled by Müsel, who got the better of BVB defender Ben Hüning and slotted home to make it 3-0 (33).
Striving for control
After the interval, BVB strove to gain control. But that initially did not change the flow of the game. Essen continued to be bolder, more confident on the ball and defended their seemingly comfortable lead in a focused manner. Dortmund thus only posed a threat very rarely. The first notable opportunity was spurned by Franz Roggow from range. RWE keeper Golz fished the low shot away from the corner (59).
With half an hour remaining, Zimmermann brought on Jordi Paulina for the ineffectual Wätjen. And the 20-year-old immediately made his mark by notching an assist. Thanks to a bit of luck, Hettwer finished off a lovely pass from the Dutchman to make it 3-1 (65). The home team started to flounder for a brief moment, but Elongo-Yombo spurned the chance to add another.
BVB then continued to put in a decent showing for long spells and held their own in the challenges. Coach Zimmermann's team could only reproach themselves for the fact that they were somewhat lacking ideas in their attacking play. As a result, there were no more serious threats to the home team's goal.
Coach Jan Zimmermann: "That was exactly the second half that I had envisaged. We showed our true colours. We needed that from the first minute onwards. In the first half, we had 15 minutes in which we were not in the game. We lost the match then. The defeat will not knock us back. But it is also clear that a quarter of an hour like that cannot happen to us often. But the reaction from the lads was top. I think you could see what potential we have. I liked the way we performed here today. We would of course have liked to come away with something, but we need to quickly put it behind us now."
Outlook: The U23s will round off the English week by hosting 1860 Munich in Dortmund on Saturday 28 September. Kick-off at Stadion Rote Erde is at 14:00 CEST.
Goals: 1-0 Müsel (19), 2-0 Safi (25), 3-0 Müsel (33), 3-1 Hettwer (65)
U23s: Lotka – Mogultay, Hüning, Lührs, Jessen (Göbel, 11) – Roggow (Paschke, 72), Azhil, Wätjen (Paulina, 60) – Hettwer (Foti, 72), Campbell, Eberwein (Elongo-Yombo, 11)