Borussia Dortmund's U23s had to accept a 0-1 home defeat against Viktoria Köln. Some 978 spectators saw a Dortmund team that were largely in control of the game at Rote Erde stadium. However, after missing chances in the first half, coach Enrico Maaßen's team fell behind and could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.

The opposition: The team from the Rhineland are still failing to fulfil their potential this season. A meagre return of just ten points after twelve matches put Viktoria Köln 18th in the table ahead of the match. Coach Olaf Janssen's team have managed only two wins and four draws, having lost six games already this season. Last time out, they drew 1-1 against Wiesbaden, matching their previous result against Würzburg. The team from Cologne have the third worst defensive record and worst away record in the league (one point from six games).

Personnel: BVB coach Enrico Maaßen made one change to his starting eleven from the defeat in Braunschweig, with Ted Tattermusch replacing Niklas Dams, who missed the game due to illness.

The match: Right from the outset, both teams looked to find their strikers from deep. After a quarter of an hour, the best chance fell to the Black and Yellow youngsters, but Ole Pohlmann's attempt was too close to Viktoria keeper Moritz Nicolas, who duly made the save. Against the run of play, it was the away side who scored the first goal of the match. Daniel Buballa latched on to a failed attempt at a clearance by Dortmund and made the most of his opportunity to give the team from the Rhineland the lead at 1-0.

Cologne were compact at the back and BVB struggled to create chances. The best opportunity fell to Ted Tattermusch after a Raschl cross on 39 minutes, but his header went narrowly wide. They went even closer just before the break, when Tattermusch got on the end of Richmond Tachie's cross, but he failed to hit the target from close range. The two sides headed into the break at 0-1.

BVB started the second half with the same side and caused a lot of trouble in front of the Cologne goal in the early stages after the restart, but the shots from Richmond Tachie and Berkan Taz were off target. The Black and Yellows were dominating the game, penning Viktoria back deep into their own half. The away side switched to a long ball style of play and did not push many men forward after they took the lead. On 77 minutes, Simon Handle had their only further half-chance, but Luca Unbehaun made the save.

Time gradually ran out for BVB, with the away side playing down the clock and rarely allowing BVB to get into any dangerous areas in front of goal. Three minutes before the final whistle, Timo Bornemann had the chance to snatch a late equaliser when he got on the end of Knauff's cross, but fired his shot over the bar. In the end, BVB had to accept a most unfortunate defeat. They deserved a point, but did not get the reward for their efforts.

BVB U23s: Unbehaun – Maloney (Bah-Traore, 57), Pfanne, Papadopoulos, Pohlmann, Pherai (Hober, 70), Raschl, Viet, Taz (Bueno), Tachie (Bornemann, 70), Tattermusch (Knauff, 57)

Goals: 0-1 Buballa (28)

Next up: Next Saturday, our U23s will travel to play Viktoria Berlin. Kick-off is at 14:00 CET.