Match Report
U23s lose to Rostock despite Lotka's outstanding display
The scenario: After the 4-0 defeat against Arminia Bielefeld in the last home game, Dortmund's U23s were eager to make amends. But Hansa Rostock had lost only three matches since changing coach at the end of October.
Personnel matters: Jan Zimmermann made three changes to the line-up that started the match against Arminia a week ago: Ben Hüning, Baran Mogultay and Babis Drakas came into the team. Filippo Mane and Almugera Kabar had travelled to Heidenheim with the first team and Rodney Elongo-Yombo dropped to the bench. Julian Hettwer, Felix Irorere, Patrick Göbel and Felix Paschke missed out through injury.
The match & analysis: It proved to be a highly entertaining football match from the outset. The home team created their first major opportunity after only two minutes. Baran Mogultay played the ball down the left side of the attack to Babis Drakas, who cut the ball back to Kjell Wätjen. Rostock's goalkeeper Benjamin Uphoff made a strong save and Jordi Paulina was too taken aback to slot home on the follow-up.
Amid bright sunshine at Stadion Rote Erde, both teams were really raring to play football and so the action was constantly switching ends. But the only real scoring chances were created by the visitors, who increasingly took control as the minutes ticked by in the first period. Countless Rostock crosses flew dangerously into the Dortmund penalty area. U23 goalkeeper Marcel Lotka was constantly in the spotlight, making several brilliant saves. When Rostock's Adrien Lebeau went for goal from long range, the shot-stopper dived at full stretch to turn the ball onto the woodwork.
BVB tried to focus on counter-attacking and keep a tight ship at the back. But their defence, which has recently been so compact, struggled to deal with Rostock's attacking play. The Swede Nils Fröling found himself in front of Lotka time after time, only to be denied by the Dortmund keeper.
Things then got exciting before half-time: Babis Drakas, who cut the liveliest figure in the Dortmund attack, broke through down the left and delivered the ball into the middle of the six-yard box. Jordi Paulina was in the right place and narrowly missed the chance to open the scoring. Hansa countered immediately. Fröling was played in again in a three-on-two situation, but once again failed to beat Lotka. The keeper also sensationally saved the direct follow-up shot, ensuring it remained 0-0 at the break.
The second half continued on seamlessly from the first. Once again, Rostock's Fröling went clean through on the Dortmund goal following a corner and beat Lotka, but Ben Hüning intervened impressively on the goal-line.
Christian Kinsombi had been on the pitch for Rostock for less than two minutes when the substitute received the ball on the right of the box and found the near corner to make it 1-0 after 66 minutes. Borussia looked for ways to attack, but only threatened the visitors' goal again in the 87th minute when Michael Eberwein was inches away from a diving header. Shortly before the final whistle, Nils Fröling came out on top in his private battle with Marcel Lotka, scoring to make it 2-0 to ensure the three points returned to the Baltic coast.
Jan Zimmermann: "The bottom line is that the defeat was deserved. We showed glimpses of what we can do when we courageously turn on the tempo. Overall, we lost far too many balls and challenges. We then missed our chances to score a goal and that's how you lose a close game. I cannot reproach the boys for their fighting spirit, but we have to stop making mistakes."
Franz Roggow: "Rostock simply asserted themselves better in the decisive moments. With a little bit of luck, we could have taken the lead ourselves and then the game would have turned out differently. We're lacking that little bit of luck at the moment; we'll have to work to get it back. We're of course missing Julian Hettwer. However, we have other players too and are creating chances that we need to finish off more efficiently."
Goals: 0-1 Kinsombi (66), 0-2 Fröling (89)
U23s: Lotka – Mogultay, Lührs, Hüning, Krevsun – Azhil (Besong, 86), Roggow, Eberwein, - Wätjen (Diallo, 80), Paulina (Elongo-Yombo, 64), Drakas (Foti, 64)