549 spectators saw an intense Regionalliga tie in the Rote Erde stadium, which ended 1-1 (0:0). Taylan Duman gave BVB the lead after 70 minutes. The equaliser came in injury time.

The scenario: BVB went into the match with Rot-Weiss Essen with three victories from three games. The visitors had drawn 1-1 with Wiedenbrück in their only league match so far. In the DFB Cup, however, coach Christian Neidhart's team made it into the second round with a 1-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld.

Personnel matters: Enrico Maaßen made three changes from last Wednesday's victory over Sportfreunde Lotte. Haymenn Bah-Traore, Henri Weigelt and Kolbein Finnsson replaced Lennard Maloney, Maximilian Hippe and Philipp Harlass. 

The match: Both teams started cautiously, with neither wanting to make the first mistake in the opening minutes. BVB had a little more possession, as RWE initially tried several long balls. Yet the guests instantly looked dangerous with their first good attack. Star striker Simon Engelmann was denied by Niklas Dams in the 17th minute, as the defender was able to clear the ball off the line using his head. Essen were now playing a little better, trying to get more control of the ball. BVB came under some prolonged pressure during this period, but the defence stood firm. 

Only after about 35 minutes did the black and yellows relieve the pressure a little, but the final ball was still lacking, so Richmond Tachie was not able to get on the end of Ansgar Knauf's pass in the 38th minute. Tachie was able to get a shot away in the 42nd minute, but his attempt from around 11 yards out was too soft and no problem for RWE goalkeeper Davari. 

At the beginning of the second half, Enrico Maaßen made two changes, with Aday Ercan and Alaa Bakir replacing Florian Krebs and Richmond Tachie. BVB were significantly better in the second half and looked the more threatening of the two sides. In the middle of this good period for BVB, Essen striker Simon Engelmann, who was left one-on-one with Luca Unbehaun after carelessness at the back, but put his shot just wide. It was a let-off for BVB, who had brought on Dominik Wanner for Ansgar Knauff shortly beforehand. After that, however, Essen were again the slightly better team, and created another good opportunity for Engelmann in the 63rd minute.

BVB again weathered the storm and were rewarded for a passionate defensive effort with the goal to give them a 1-0 lead. When Tigges was played in by Finnsson, the centre forward could only be stopped by a foul. The free-kick was converted by Taylan Duman, who give Davari no chance and thus gave the black and yellows the lead. RWE then threw everything forward and Enrico Maaßen brought on another defender in Maximilian Hippe. RWE were running out of ideas and BVB often relieved the strain on their defence with counter-attacks. Dominik Wanner had the best chance, and it needed the faintest touch from Davari to put his shot out for a corner. RWE still had one more chance before the end of the game. Felix Backszat took a shot from around 17 yards out. The ball took two deflections, leaving Luca Unbehaun helpless in goal. Thus the derby match ended 1-1. 

Outlook: BVB will face another challenge next Wednesday. Kick-off against SC Wiedenbrück is at 19:30 CET. 

Here's what the coach had to say: "Of course, we are disappointed with the way the game went. We improved as the game went on. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. It was clear that we brought on two fresh players at half-time. That helped us a lot. We then had more control of the game and were the better team in the second half. All in all, it was a very tight game, we will take a lot of positives from it, and we will go again on Wednesday."

Team & goals

BVB U23s: Unbehaun, Bah-Traore, Duman (Hippe, 78), Tachie (Bakir, 46), Weigelt, Tigges, Finnsson, Pfanne, Krebs (Ercan, 46), Dams, Knauff (Wanner, 59)

Goals: 1-0 Duman (70), 1-1 Backszat (90)