Youngsters lead the way to victory: Borussia win 4-0 in Aachen

Borussia Dortmund made use of the international break to play a friendly match away to Regionalliga outfit Alemannia Aachen. BVB made the trip with a long list of absences - Akanji, Alcácer, Bruun Larsen, Delaney, Diallo, Gómez, Hakimi, Isak, Sancho, Witsel and Zagadou were all away with their international teams, while Bürki, Reus, Pulisic, Kagawa, Wolf, Guerreiro and Piszczek were all sidelined by injuries. Even Lucien Favre was unable to travel to Aachen due to back problems. The head coach's place in the technical area was taken up by his assistants Manfred Stefes and Edin Terzic. The side was complimented by the presence of a few members of the U23 squad - Pieper, Wanner and Ametov.

Borussia were happy to pass the ball around their own half in the opening minutes, the few occasions they ventured forward they were met with able resistance from the team from Aachen. The first real goalmouth action for BVB came from the combination of Toljan and Ametov, whose delivery from the right hand side was blocked (9.). Just a few seconds later, the Black and Yellows upped their game. Götze, wearing the captain's armband for tonight's match, played a neat one-two with Philipp on the edge of the area before shifting the ball to Wanner, who fired the ball straight into the far corner to make the score 1-0 to Borussia.

Ametov and Wanner strike before the break

Four minutes later, Aachen had their first chance of the match. Boesen had a shot from a central position, but could only direct the ball straight into the arms of Hitz in the Dortmund goal. Shortly afterwards, Ametov cranked things up a notch. Toprak drove the ball forward through midfield and played it to his teammate Ametov, who managed to get the better of his defender in the area. He had room to shoot, but the angle was tight and Aachen goalkeeper Zeaiter was able to make the save. He wouldn't have such luck with the next Dortmund attack. Toljan had time and space on the right hand side and played the ball into the middle, Ametov got on the end of it but was denied by the keeper once more. Fortunately for Dortmund, the rebound fell kindly and he was able to prod the ball home to make it 2-0. Five minutes later, the youngster missed a good chance from close range to grab the next goal, while Götze was foiled by the Aachen goalkeeper. BVB were creating plenty of opportunities, but that's not to say that their opponents weren't getting in on the game too: Hitz was forced into a save from Temür (36.). Shortly before half-time, Ametov once more failed to find the back of the net after some excellent solo play to set himself up (38.). A shot at goal from Toljan was then blocked in the 40th minute.

Götze and Philipp after half-time

Rode's entry as a substitute (in place of Toljan) after the break brought about a change in tactics. Instead of a back four, BVB now lined up with a three man defensive line of Pieper, Weigl and Toprak. As before, BVB were the first side to pose a threat in the second half, but Dahoud was only able to find the side-netting in the 50th minute. Borussia were seeing a lot more of the ball and waited patiently for their chance to strike, but the home team were doing well to hold them at bay. In the 65th minute, Philipp set up Ametov in the box, but his first touch let the ball get away from him. Two minutes later, Götze exchanged passes with Philipp and had a shot from 15 metres out. Tigges, who had come on as a substitute in the Aachen goal, was able to get a hand to it but couldn't prevent the ball from going in. 3-0 to Dortmund.

At the other end, Hitz was in the right place to deny Aachen in the 63rd and 68th minutes. The best chance for Alemannia fell to Bösing, who sent his header just over the bar (71.). Instead, it would be BVB who would strike once more. Philipp, who had missed a good chance in the 69th minute, was able to beat two defenders after receiving a pass from Dahoud. He then sent the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box to bring the score to 4-0. Dahoud had a couple of chances to top things off with another goal, but he fired a free-kick narrowly over the bar (79). and had a chipped effort saved by Tigges (81.).

BVB: Hitz – Toljan (46. Rode), Toprak (60. Sechelmann), Pieper, Burnic –Dahoud, Weigl (79. Konaté) – Ametov (71. Baxmann), Götze, Wanner – Philipp
Goals: 0:1 Wanner (9., Götze), 0:2 Ametov (25., Toljan), 0:3 Götze (67., Philipp), 0:4 Philipp (76., Dahoud)
Attendance: 15.800
Christina Reinke