U23s continue unbeaten start with win over Wegberg-Beeck

The scenario: Having taken an impressive 14 points from their opening six matches, the BVB reserves went into this game third in the table behind RW Essen and the Borussia Mönchengladbach second team. Directly below them were Fortuna Cologne, Düsseldorf II and Preußen Münster. The visitors from near the Dutch border had picked up only four points this season. Coach Michael Burlet's side had one win, one draw and three defeats from their five games, scoring only two goals in the process. 

Personnel matters: Goalkeeper Stefan Drljaca made the starting XI for the second time in this Saturday lunchtime kick-off. He replaced Luca Unbehaun, who is away representing Germany at youth level. The other new faces compared to the team that faced Bonn were Aday Ercan, Florian Krebs and Cebrail Makreckis.

The match: It became clear relatively quickly who would have the upper hand in this game. BVB had the visitors pinned back in their own half, piled on the pressure and got stuck in to the challenges. Following two missed chances from set-pieces, Steffen Tigges managed to open the scoring after exploiting a misunderstanding in the Wegberg-Beeck rearguard. The Dortmund defence then returned the favour, allowing Manuel Kabambi to restore parity against the run of play only four minutes after the Black & Yellows had taken the lead.

But BVB did not let the leveller knock them out of their rhythm and instead created a great opportunity to go 2-1 in front five minutes later – although winger Cebrail Makreckis missed from an unmarked position five metres out. The ball did end up in the back of the net a few seconds later, only for Lennard Maloney's goal to be chalked off for offside. The match became disjointed, with lots of niggly fouls and interruptions disrupting its flow. The score was still 1-1 by the time the half-time whistle sounded, in part because Steffen Tigges had seen an almost certain goal cleared off the line.

BVB boss Enrico Maaßen made one switch ahead of the second period, replacing Cebrail Makreckis with Dominik Wanner. It continued to be largely one-way traffic after the interval, with the Black & Yellows laying siege to the visitors' half and repeatedly attempting to create shooting opportunities at Stefan Zabel's goal. But Wegberg's tactic was to sit deep and wait for opportunities to counter. One such moment came as the match approached the hour mark, culminating in the visitors striking the woodwork. Maaßen made another change shortly afterwards and brought the more attack-minded Alaa Bakir on for Aday Ercan.

The Black & Yellows then suddenly found themselves back in front out of nothing. Florian Krebs played a corner towards the edge of the box and Taylan Duman's volley was steered into the net by Franz Pfanne. BVB were back in front, with the visitors visibly caught off guard by the set-piece routine. But just when it looked like Borussia had the game under control, the guests managed to level again. Following a foul by Niklas Dams, referee Martin Tietze played the advantage and that allowed Manuel Kamambi to draw his side level for the second time.

The scores didn't stay level for long, however, with Taylan Duman converting a penalty awarded for a foul on Alaa Bakir to make it 3-2. Wegberg-Beeck could not find it in themselves to equalise once again and so it was the Black & Yellows who, despite squandering two good counter-attacks towards the end, deservedly beat their promoted opponents.

Outlook: Fellow newly-promoted outfit RW Ahlen will be the visitors to Stadion Rote Erde next Saturday (14:00 CET).

Team & goals

BVB U23s: Drljaca, Maloney, Hippe, Ercan (Bakir, 59), Duman, Tachie (Schmeling, 90), Tigges, Pfanne, Krebs (Hober, 79), Makreckis (Wanner, 46), Dams

Goals: 1-0 Tigges (20), 1-1 Kabambi (24), 2-1 Pfanne (64), 2-2 Kabambi (76), 3-2 Duman (pen., 81)