The Borussia Dortmund U23s beat their neighbours SG Wattenscheid 3-1 on Matchday 20 of the Regionalliga season. Pavlidis notched a brace either side of a Boyamba strike in what was a largely one-sided display in front of 206 spectators at the Rote Erde Stadium.

The scenario:
The Borussia Dortmund U23s went into this match occupying fourth place in the table, while SG Wattenscheid were languishing in 14th. However, the Black & Yellows had been defeated by league leaders Viktoria Köln last time out, while the visitors had claimed a surprising home win against Alemannia Aachen.

The personnel:
BVB coach Jan Siewert made a total of four changes to the starting XI that played against Viktoria Köln last weekend, bringing in Sergio Gomez, Mory Konate, Marco Hober and Evangelos Pavlidis in place of Denzeil Boadu, Sebastian Rode, Gianluca Rizzo and Sören Dieckmann.

The first half:
BVB dominated proceedings in the opening half. The visitors from Wattenscheid often lost possession going forward and the Black & Yellows took full advantage on the counter-attack. Evangelos Pavlidis put the hosts 1-0 ahead from the first good opportunity in the 22nd minute, with Joseph Boyamba claiming the assist after Julian Schwermann had won the ball back in midfield. BVB were clearly enjoying their football in spite of the difficult conditions.

Goalscorer Pavlidis turned provider five minutes later to tee up Boyamba for the second. Meanwhile, the visitors created hardly any chances against a resolute home defence and only carried a goal threat from set-pieces.

Dortmund custodian Eric Oelschlägel was forced into action for the first time on the 34-minute mark, pushing a long-range effort from Mael Corboz over the crossbar. The ensuing corner-kick came to nothing and, with no notable action taking place in the remainder of the first half, BVB took in a fully deserved two-goal advantage at the interval.

The second half:
BVB took a more relaxed approach to the second period, comfortably protecting their lead by thwarting any attempts from SG Wattenscheid to find a way back into the game. Then, with 63 minutes gone, Pavlidis sealed the win for the home side when he broke through down the left flank and slotted home his second goal of the afternoon. Only once the game was 78 minutes old did the visitors find the back of the net for the first time, with Mael Corboz grabbing the consolation. There was to be no comeback, however, with the Dortmund rearguard holding firm to seal a deserved 3-1 win. The Black & Yellows remain in fourth place in the Regionalliga West after 20 rounds of matches.

The reaction from BVB boss Jan Siewert:
"I'm very happy with the victory. The result is deserved, we were clearly the dominant team. Our objective was to learn from the match against Viktoria Köln. We managed that today, we avoided making individual mistakes and that was the key to the victory today."

Outlook:
Next Saturday (kick-off 15:30 CET) sees Jan Siewert's charges play their final game of the calendar year. Their opponents will be RW Oberhausen.

BVB U23s:  Oelschlägel – Bockhorn, Pieper, Konate, Rente, Burnic (Kilian, 90) – Schwermann, Gomez (Hanke, 83), Hober (Dieckmann, 80) – Pavlidis, Boyamba
Goals: 1-0 Pavlidis (22), 2-0 Boyamba (34), 3-0 Pavlidis (63), 3-1 Corboz (78)
Timo Lammert