U23s clearly beaten in the end

BVB coach Jan Siewert will be without two more players in the final few weeks of the season. Haymenn Bah-Traore and Sören Dieckmann are expected to miss the rest of the campaign.

The match got off to a bad start for the hosts, who were forced into making an injury-induced substitution after only six minutes. Jonas Arweiler replaced Denzeil Boadu, who had sustained an eye injury in a challenge. The early change somewhat knocked BVB out of their stride and the result was the visitors from Uerdingen taking the lead with their first shot of the match, with Lucas Musculus tapping the ball over the line in the eighth minute. The game had reached the 15-minute mark before the Black & Yellows created their first opportunity on the counter, though Patrick Pflücke was denied by KFC custodian Vollath.

BVB go 2-1 ahead, Pavlidis hits the post

The visitors were the more active team midway through the first half and had the better of the possession, with BVB more focused on counter-attacking at this stage. But they increasingly ventured into the opposition half and were deservedly awarded a penalty on the 27-minute mark. Massimo Ornatelli did not let the opportunity pass him by and converted the spot-kick to level the score at 1-1. The match became more heated in the period the followed, the visitors edgier. An outstanding attack through David Sauerland was then rounded off by Evangelos Pavlidis to give the hosts a fortuitous 2-1 lead. BVB had ridden the wave of early pressure and were now locked in an even battle with the table-toppers.

KFC looked a tad intimidated in the subsequent period and offered very little of the attractive attacking football that had been on display in the opening stages. The Black & Yellows had struck at just the right time and, with approximately five minutes remaining before the break, were finally in pole position in their own back yard. This supremacy was highlighted in the 41st minute of the match when Evangelos Pavlidis struck the upright. But the visitors bit back and restored parity at 2-2 in first-half stoppage time. The hosts initially cleared the danger but when the cross came back in, Mario Erb managed to force it over the line. It was to be the final action of the first period.

The match continued in equally spectacular fashion after the restart, with BVB going for the KFC goal straight from kick-off. Rene Vollath was caught off his line and had to back-peddle to stop Massimo Ornatelli's effort from over 50 metres from crossing the line. Chances were coming with almost every passing minute. A pass from Arweiler set Patrick Pflücke in motion down the right and the attack was only halted by a foul. The subsequent free-kick amounted to nothing.

Jan Siewert: "Today's result does not reflect our performance."

Suddenly, with just over an hour gone, the ball found its way into the back of the Dortmund net, Tanju Öztürk latching onto a cross from deep to re-establish the away side's lead. The Black & Yellows were forced into another injury-induced change a short while later. Abdelmajid Bouali replaced Jonas Arweiler, who lay motionless on the pitch for several moments despite there having been no contact with an opponent. The sizeable crowd of over 1,600 fans could see by now that the visitors were in the ascendancy. BVB were no longer getting into the tackles after the Arweiler injury and KFC extended their lead to 4-2 through Maximilian Beister in the 72nd minute, later adding a fifth and a sixth amid a flurry of goals.

Jan Siewert later said: "Jonas Arweiler is now doing slightly better. The result is of secondary importance today. Our thoughts are with Jonas. Today's result does not reflect our performance. We've had to deal with several setbacks already this season. The fact that we're still so high up the table at this stage of the season is bordering on a miracle. Today we're in a state of deep shock."
Timo Lammert