Only Rizzo on target: U23s pass up myriad chances

Jan Siewert had no choice but to make changes to the team that had drawn during the week against Rödinghausen. Denzeil Boadu came in for the suspended David Sauerland, having sat out his own suspension due to a red card.

At the outset, BVB went at it hammer and tongs. Coach Jan Siewert's team, set up in an attack-minded formation, sought to get forward from the moment the whistle had been blown. Correspondingly, they made for danger almost immediately when in the first minute of play a shot from Pavlidis was cleared for a corner. The Black and Yellows could well have led by two goals with not ten minutes of the match played, yet chances for Dieckmann (6') and Ametov (7') were denied by a Düsseldorf keeper with Bundesliga experience, namely, Michael Rensing.   

It was still only BVB applying pressure after around 20 minutes played. The Rhineland men could only make it out of their own half with long balls pumped forward to temporarily ease their situation. The Borussia boys were pushing hard for the goal to give them the lead, though there was always a Düsseldorf man to be found stymying their efforts at the last. Fortuna first got themselves down the other end of the pitch towards the end of the first passage of play. A shot fired off from a tight angle was blazed over Dominik Reimann's goal into row Z, however. 

The second half began in a somewhat more restrained manner, and the visitors had for themselves a greater share of the game in terms of space on the field. Lucoqui muscled his way down the left-hand side in the 55' minute of play, and was only to be halted by Sören Dieckmann, who fouled the Düsseldorf player in the 18-yard box. BVB goalkeeper Dominik Reimann was able to render the awarded spot kick innocuous, though. Thereafter, BVB began to dictate terms again and pitched their tent in the Düsseldorf half for a second time. Borussia's first good chance fell to Balint Bajner, but his shot was put over the crossbar by Rensing.  

Bonga scored a goal against the run of play in the 63' minute to take a 0-1 lead. The striker was able to turn on the edge of the area and gave Reimann no chance of making a save with a well-placed shot. Coach Jan Siewert's team had around 25 minutes remaining to rectify the result in front of over 1500 spectators in the Rote Erde Stadium.

Nevertheless, despite their strong performance in the first half, Dortmund were wanting for clear-cut goal scoring opportunities during the second lot of 45 minutes. In contrast, the visitors from Düsseldorf became more proactive and were able to work for themselves the odd chance here or there. But ten minutes before time was due to be called, it did happen after all: Rizzo popped up in front Michael Rensing alone after latching onto a fantastic pass from Bouali, confidently converting to deservedly equalise and take the score to 1-1.

The Black and Yellows went in pursuit of a winning goal with the match entering its twilight minutes. The Borussia men appealed for a penalty kick after a foul on Herbert Bockhorn, but the referee was unmoved, and his whistle silent. Consequently, the game ran out without a winning goal having been scored.

BVB coach Jan Siewert summed up the game as follows: "It's literally scandalous that we didn't win this fixture. We created so many chances for ourselves, but if you don't take them, then you can't win the match. I'd like to praise the spirit shown by my team in the second half given they did absolutely everything to turn the game around after going behind. We were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty at the end after the foul on Herbert Bockhorn. That's no excuse though, and we need to take a look at ourselves."

The U23s' Regional League West campaign continues this coming Tuesday already. They play their rearranged fixture away at SC Verl at 19:30 CEST.  

Timo Lammert