U23s suffer second successive defeat

Dominik Reimann and Amos Pieper both returned to the starting XI having been absent last week, but Borussia were not their usual selves right from the first whistle. You could see the respect both teams had for each other from the very beginning – with no-one wanting to make mistakes – and as a result the first 20 minute elapsed without any notable goalscoring chances. The hosts had more possession and slowly began to foray towards the BVB goal midway through the first period.

With the respectful opening exchanges over, Oberhausen became more attack-minded and converted their first real chance in the 23rd minute. BVB failed to properly clear a long throw into the box and the ball was headed away towards Alexander Scheelen, who struck it directly into the bottom left corner from outside the penalty area.

Dortmund began to throw more caution to the wind, but a Pflücke corner that found its way to Patrick Mainka was their most dangerous opportunity in the opening half. The hosts were attacking with confidence and were the better team, while Jan Siewert's changes only really threatened from set-pieces and offered little in the way of creativity from open play.

The coach reacted at the interval and brought on Beyhan Ametov in place of Patrick Pflücke, but Borussia showed little in the way of improvement after the break. Much like the match against Aachen a week earlier, the Black & Yellows were lacking imagination against a defensively solid opponent. Oberhausen cleverly held onto their lead and saw out the result. In what was a below-average Regionalliga encounter, Sören Dieckmann also made his comeback. He was booked within seconds and then received his marching orders after first fouling an Oberhausen player and then discussing the decision with the referee. The task facing the visitors became all the harder in the final few minutes with only 10 men.

Next on the agenda is a clash with TuS Erndtebrück at 14:00 CET on Saturday.
Timo Lammert