After an intense 90 minutes of football, nothing could separate the two teams as the U23s of Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf played out a 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon at the Rote Erde Stadion.

Following on from the first set of midweek games of the still young Regionalliga season, Borussia Dortmund U23 brought their demanding week to a close with a match in front of their own fans. Once again, the fixture was played in a separate time slot from the first team, which meant the team enjoyed the presence of some 1255 spectators, as well as that of certain players from the first-team squad. Central defender Dan-Axel Zagadou made his first appearance with the U23s, whilst Alexander Isak, Dzenis Burnic und Sergio Gomez were also involved. 

Borussia started strongly and were on top right from kick-off. Eight minutes in, the first good chance of the match presented itself. After a solo run from Joseph Boyamb, Alexander Isak set up Dzenis Burnic, whose powerful shot only narrowly missed the target.

The match then lost some of its spark. Both teams were guilty of too many misplaced passes, attempts on goal were few and far between in the first half. Even set plays were unable to provide any real danger. A 36th minute free-kick from Gomez failed to make it past the wall. Düsseldorf were very well-drilled in defence, often camped out in front of their area with a five man back line.  

Burnic narrowly misses with free-kick

Shortly before half-time, the opposition goal again came close to being breached. Dusseldorf goalkeeper Theißen was just about able to send a Burnic free-kick behind for a corner. Borussia continued to pile on the pressure and it wasn't long before they created the best opportunity of the match. Young central defender Luca Kilian found himself with a free header from just six yards out, but his effort failed to hit the target. Shortly afterwards, referee Fabian Maibaum brought an end to the first half.

The first real chance of the second half fell to Dominik Wanner in the 53rd minute. Zagadou and Dieckmann linked up fantastically to play Wanner in on goal, but his attempt from three metres out went just wide of the right hand post. In the 62nd minute, Kempes Tekiela got his first taste of league action, coming on to replace Dominik Wanner in the BVB attack.

Ornatelli's free-kick hits the post

In the 69th minute, BVB once again came close to rippling the back of the Düsseldorf net. Massimo Ornatelli shot a free-kick which smacked back off the upright, Gomez's attempt from the rebound then narrowly missed the target. BVB were starting to find their flow and had several shots at goal in quick succession. Isak (71st minute), Gomez (72nd minute) and Bockhorn's (73rd minute) attempts were all foiled by Düsseldorf's last line of defence.

For what remained of the match, the only real chances came from set pieces. Substitute Tekiela missed a chance to take the lead in the 78th minute. The closing stages continued to be played at a high intensity, though the flow of the match was repeatedly interrupted by niggling fouls, both teams seemingly aware that they had little room for error.  

In the end, nothing could separate the two teams and the game finished 0-0.

Borussia Dortmund U23 are back in action this coming Saturday. Coach Jan Siewert's side will travel to play SV Rödinghausen. Kick-off is at 14.30 CET.

BVB U23: Oelschlägel – Dieckmann, Zagadou, Kilian, Bockhorn – Burnic (67. Schwermann), Gomez (87. Burggraf), Ornatelli – Wanner (62. Tekiela), Isak, Boyamba
Timo Lammert