U23s claim 4-1 win over Rhynern

Despite heavy rainfall and low temperatures, this Matchday 21 clash was still watched by 1,096 spectators – including around 30 travelling fans. Most of those away fans were players from the Westfalia Rhynern third team, who cheered their side on uninterruptedly. Head coach Jan Siewert's side, meanwhile, very much deserved to win and could have been much further ahead at the break.

Borussia Dortmund were without injury absentees Armin Pejtrovic, Junior Flores and Michael Eberwein, while Denzeil Boadu was suspended for his dismissal in Aachen. Anargyro Kampetsis, meanwhile, was on international duty with Greece.

On a muddy surface at the Rote Erde, the visitors made a defensive start and mostly only attempted to pressure BVB, who dominated possession, once the ball had crossed the halfway line. The hosts tried to build the play constructively and often intercepted the visitors' tentative forays forward in midfield. After several minutes Borussia got a better hold on the game and initiated the first attacks. The first attempt, in the seventh minute, ended successfully as Massimo Ornatelli made lovely a pass with the outside of his foot to Evangelos Pavlidis, who went clean through on the Rhynern goalkeeper and deservedly fired the hosts into a 1-0 lead.

For a brief while Rhynern became more courageous, attacking deep into the BVB half without carving open any good chances. Philipp Hanke headed the ball goalbound in the 19th minute but it was cleared away, before the visitors had an opportunity four minutes later when former Dortmund player Salvatore Gambino crossed the ball into the box from a free-kick, only for the subsequent header to sail narrowly wide. In the 28th minute BVB's Jonas Arweiler linked up brilliantly with Herbert Bockhorn but couldn't take his chance and the shot went narrowly off target.

BVB controlled both possession and opposition, with the visitors kept a long way away from Dominik Reimann's goal. But they had stopped applying as much pressure, knowing they already had the lead, and were lacking consistency. However, in the 39th minute Herbert Bockhorn carried the ball brilliantly through central midfield before playing to Hanke, who cut the ball back to Bockhorn only for Rhynern to clear off the line.

Immediately after the interval, Philipp Hanke did well to control a fine pass from Massimo Ornatelli before doubling the Dortmund advantage. The visitors responded by going on the offensive, creating some good chances – but BVB continued to pose a threat on the counter. With the hour mark approaching, Herbert Bockhorn dribbled into the penalty box and was clearly fouled. Massimo Ornatelli comfortably converted the ensuing penalty to make it 3-0, meaning he had a hand in all three goals. The visitors from Hamm continued to attempt to get forward but rarely made the breakthrough. BVB, meanwhile, had several counter-attacks but couldn't fully see them through and were often thwarted at the last.

Their dominance did, however, lead to more and more opportunities. One came after almost 70 minutes when Bockhorn was denied by the Westfalia custodian, before BVB goalkeeper Dominik Reimann did well to thwart a double-chance at the other end. By this point the match had dropped in tempo as the visitors continued to play forward without ever really threatening. Then Philipp Hanke added his second to make it 4-0 following a counter-attack involving himself and Patrick Pflücke, who could have shot himself but unselfishly passed for the unmarked Hanke to slot into the net. Shortly before the final whistle, Rhynern grabbed a consolation goal following a quick counter-attack and a spectacular shot into the corner.

The whistle blew soon after to signal the end of a game that had highlights as well as mistakes on both sides, with BVB deservedly winning. But given the number of counter-attacking chances squandered, the young Black & Yellows could have won by a much higher margin. They made a number of mistakes in their build-up play which Rhynern fortunately could not punish.

Coach reactions

Torsten Garbe: "I still think that I saw a decent performance. We improved significantly compared with the match in Uerdingen. Unfortunately, each of their goals came at an inconvenient time. Normally you have little reason to be happy if you're 4-0 down and you grab a consolation goal, but today I was happy for the lads. We had chances to score two or three goals, but at least we managed to score one."

Jan Siewert: "Of course, I am very happy with the victory. Everyone thought that we would win given our respective positions but it's not that easy. I wasn't happy with the chances the visitors had, I've told the lads that. I was not satisfied with the way in which we gave away the chances. It could have ended 7-0 but it could have finished 4-4 as well, given how many chances we gave away. I'll be crossing my fingers for them that they continue that form."
Jens Volke