In an intense third-division tie, Borussia Dortmund U23s fell to defeat against Eintracht Braunschweig. BVB lost 2-4 against the side recently relegated from the second tier. Ole Pohlmann and Lennard Maloney scored the goals for the Black and Yellows.

The opposition: Hosts Braunschweig were relegated from the Bundesliga 2 last season and are currently in eighth place in the 3. Liga on 17 points.   Coach Michael Schiele's team had made a significant improvement after a bumpy start to the season (one draw and one defeat from the first two games), having followed that up with four victories and one draw in their next five. It was only in the last few weeks that Eintracht have started to falter a little, with three draws and one defeat in their last four games.

Personnel: BVB coach Enrico Maaßen made one change to his starting eleven from the win against the Würzburger Kickers, with Ole Pohlmann replacing Ansgar Knauff, who was included in the first team squad. 

The match: Both teams went into the match at full throttle. BVB were the better team in the first few minutes. Immanuel Pherai and Richmond Tachie came close in the opening stages. However, it was the hosts who managed to score the first goal of the match, when Bryan Henning's deflected shot gave BVB goalkeeper Luca Unbehaun no chance. The Black and Yellows fought back instantly: Richmond Tachie played in Ole Pohlmann, who was able to draw his side level at 1-1 with his first goal of the season. 

Yet Braunschweig also hit back straight away, Bryan Henning giving them the lead again at 2-1 just two minutes later. It was a very open phase of the match and with both teams making errors in an end-to-end encounter. In the middle of the first half, the game settled down a little. Braunschweig were compact at the back, offering BVB plenty of possession. After half an hour, Ole Pohlmann beat two defenders and was only denied by the crossbar from close range. The ball came down on the line before going out of play. BVB went into the half-time break one goal behind.

They started the second half without any changes in personnel, but immediately set a high pace. An attack involving Christian Viet and Tobi Raschl led to a corner on 47 minutes, but the hosts weren't parking the bus, and Pena Zauner came close to adding a third on 59 minutes. Although Unbehaun was able to save that effort, the goalkeeper was given no chance three minutes later, as Braunschweig increased their lead to 3-1.

This forced the Black and Yellows to make a change up front and they pulled one back to make it 3-2 with fifteen minutes to go. Ole Pohlmann set up Lennard Maloney, who fired the ball into the top corner from just inside the box. Braunschweig barely got out of their own half as BVB pushed for the equaliser. Again, it was the impressive Pohlmann who was inches away from making it 3-3 after 77 minutes. 

BVB had their best chance to on 88 minutes, when Berkan Taz had the chance from the penalty spot after a Braunschweig handball. His well-struck penalty was tipped around the post by BTSV goalkeeper Fejzic, and it remained 3-2 to Braunschweig. BVB threw everything forward again in injury time, allowing Braunschweig to make it 4-2 seconds before the final whistle to put the game to bed. 

BVB U23s: Unbehaun – Maloney, Dams (Thaqi, 90), Papadopoulos (Bah-Traore, 70), Pohlmann, Pfanne, Raschl (Bornemann, 70), Viet, Pherai, Tachie (Tattermusch, 70), Taz

Goals: 1-0 Henning (11), 1-1 Pohlmann (13), 2-1 Henning (15), 3-1 Pena Zauner (62), 3-2 Maloney (74), 4-2 Kobylanski (90)

Incidents of note: Taz missed pen, saved by Fejzic (88)

Next up: Next Sunday at 13:00 CET, Viktoria Köln will be the guests at Stadion Rote Erde.