4-2 in Wattenscheid – U23s Climb to Third Place

The Borussia boys began briskly, and their desire to get on the ball was clear to see after the prolonged break. They made for danger as early as the second minute, when Patrick Pflücke's free-kick just missed former BVB goalkeeper Sancaktar's goal. However, the game was to be interrupted early on, as Michael Eberwein injured himself in the seventh minute, and was replaced by Denzeil Boadu. Both teams had to contend with the demanding conditions at the ground, with many balls landing out of play, or bouncing away from the goalkeepers when attempting to claim. Overall, both sides opted to play long, hoping for a mistake from the opposition's defensive unit.

However, Jan Siewert's boys were to demonstrate impressively in the 28' minute that more technically exacting football could get results. Sören Dieckmann was able to successfully finish off some lovely combination play via Pflücke, Ornatelli and Rizzo to take a 1-0 lead.

This initial success opened the floodgates, and the score stood at 2-0 not ten minutes later. A Rizzo cross was not so cleverly bungled into his own onion bag by Wattenscheid man Felix Clever. The sense that the result was a foregone conclusion was tangible as early as the 35' minute, especially given how innocuous the Wattenscheid outfit were in attack. Thereafter, the young Borussia men were still keen to play attack-minded power football. An eventful first half was embellished by chances for Dieckmann (41' minute) and Hanke (45' minute). 

BVB continued to hold the hosts under their thumb at the beginning of the second passage of play, while the hosts' challenges were becoming meatier with each passing minute. BVB kept their cool, though, and concentrated on producing the same attacking football they had done in the first 45 minutes. A nice solo-effort by Philipp Hanke down the right preceded Evangelos Pavlidis slotting home for 3-0 after some precise build-up play (56' minute). Notable events in the Lohrheide Stadium now came thick and fast. Wattenscheid were able to convert a penalty kick in the 58' minute to reduce BVB's goal cushion, after one of their players had had his legs taken out from underneath him in the 18-yard box. BVB goalkeeper Jan Reckert had no chance of saving this spot kick. The conceded goal failed to rattle the Borussia men, nonetheless. Sören Dieckmann had the opportunity in the 65' minute of play to restore a three-goal lead. However, his short-range shot was blocked and sent out for a corner.

Patrick Pflücke was to do better in the 67' minute when he rounded Sancaktar in the opposition goal and scored to take the scoreline to 4-1. The three-goal cushion had been restored, and so it was time to start conserving energy for the fixture to be played on Sunday. Consequently, Jan Siewert opted for a change, brining on Amos Pieper for goalscorer Pflücke with around 20 minutes still to be played. The Wattenscheid men managed to get a few more chances for themselves in attack in the time afterwards. Not unsurprisingly, they got a goal back again in the 78' minute for 2-4. Little of sporting note occurred towards the end of the match. Wattenscheid's offensive efforts were broken up early, meaning the game ran out 4-2. The one negative from the match was the unnecessary red card picked up by Massimo Ornatelli, who was sent packing after the referee had been surrounded in injury time. He will serve a suspension as such.

The U23s are in action again this coming Sunday already. Jan Siewert's team will host SC Verl in the Rote Erde Stadium. Kick off is at 15:00 CET.
Timo Lammert