The Borussia Dortmund U23s moved up to third place in the Regionalliga West table thanks to a 2-0 (0-0) away victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf II on Matchday 23 of the campaign. Joseph Boyamba struck shortly after the restart before winter signing Taylan Duman doubled the advantage to seal the points.

Timo Lammert reporting from Düsseldorf

The scenario:
BVB were in fourth place following the 1-1 draw with SC Wiedenbrück last time out, while Fortuna Düsseldorf remained comfortably in mid-table despite being thrashed 4-0 at Alemannia Aachen on their last outing.

Personnel matters:
Sergio Gomez, Herbert Bockhorn and Hüseyin Bulut were drafted into the starting XI. Luca Kilian was suspended following his dismissal, while Philipp Hanke, Jonas Hupe, Leon Burggraf and Kempes Tekiela were injured.

The first half:
The attack-minded Hüseyin Bulut started today's match at right-back for the first time in the 5-3-2 system selected by Alen Terzic. The match was only 50 seconds old when he ventured into the opposition box for the first time, shooting narrowly wide after being teed up by Julian Schwermann. The hosts, meanwhile, created their first chance on eight minutes when Dario Bezerra Ehret's long-range effort was dealt with by Eric Oelschlägel. The second good opportunity for the Black & Yellows fell to Hebert Bockhorn in the 12th minute, who shot narrowly wide from 20 metres out following a counter-attacking move involving Joseph Boyamba and Sergio Gomez. It developed into a lively match with lots of goalscoring chances on both sides. The best opportunity to open the scoring fell to Gianluca Rizzo following a Boyamba cross in the 16th minute. But the eventful opening stages were followed by a lull as both teams allowed careless mistakes to creep into their build-up play. Chances were few and far between, and the first half finished goalless. 

The second half:
Borussia Dortmund made the perfect start to the second period by taking the lead on 47 minutes. The move started when Herbert Bockhorn won the ball back in midfield and Taylan Duman played a perfect cross-field ball for Joseph Boyamba, who slotted home. The advantage was almost doubled seven minutes later but Rizzo's shot was pushed behind for a corner by Theißen in the Düsseldorf goal. BVB were the better side by this point, with Fortuna Düsseldorf displaying next to no attacking intent. The Black & Yellows, meanwhile, tried to get forward and eventually extended their lead when winter signing Duman struck in the 67th minute, the offensive midfielder scoring directly from a free-kick from a centre-left position. It was a special goal for Duman, who had only joined BVB from Fortuna over the winter break. The goal sparked no reaction from the hosts, who seemed resigned to their fate and made it easy for Dortmund to see out the result. The match ended with a deserved away victory for the Black & Yellows, and their first since the end of October.

Outlook:
There will be no Regionalliga fixtures next week, with the next game for the U23s set to take place when SV Rödinghausen visit the Rote Erde on 8 March.

BVB U23s: Oelschlägel – Bockhorn, Rente, Konate, Bulut (Bah Traore, 73) – Ornatelli, Schwermann, Gomez (Boadu, 75) – Duman, Rizzo (Baxmann, 80), Boyamba
Goals: 0-1 Boyamba (47), 0-2 Duman (67)