Great battling performance against Rostov-Don

BVB's goalkeeper Yara ten Holte was a key performer and made numerous saves to prevent her team from losing by a greater margin. The top scorers were pivot Merel Freriks (six goals) and Fatos Kücükyildiz (seven goals). "I'm very happy with the way we presented ourselves here," said Andreas Heiermann, head of the handball department, as he reflected glowingly on his team's battling performance.

Next up for BVB is a Bundesliga home game against Thüringer HC on Wednesday evening. In the Champions League, the Dortmund ladies will travel to CSM Bucuresti this Saturday coming. "Our full focus is now on the Bundesliga and the home game against THC. That's the most important match for us," said BVB coach André Fuhr.

Fuhr's overall impression was positive. "We showed too much respect at the start; when we put that respect aside, we got to within two goals. But in the end, our small squad lacked penetration against this strong Rostov team full of international players. But I'm absolutely satisfied with the performance," said Borussia's head coach after the game.

It was clear from the outset that it was going to be a tough battle against Rostov-Don. The BVB women's handball team lost the reverse fixture in Dortmund's twin city by a 37-27 scoreline. Coach André Fuhr had already issued a warning about the Russians' physical style of play. And that's how it turned out. Initially, there was simply no way through for BVB against a central block spearheaded by the 1.82 m-tall Frenchwoman Beatric Edwige. When André Fuhr called his first timeout after 12 minutes, BVB were already 8-4 down. Even Merel Freriks of the Netherlands, who is usually so clinical in front of goal, could only occasionally assert herself on the edge of the D against the physical Russians. Five minutes later, the score stood at 12-5 and things did not look good for the hosts.

Clara Woltering's rare appearance to defend a seven-metre throw against Grace Zaadi Deune did not change that. The BVB goalkeeping coach stood in for Madita Kohorst, who had tested positive for corona on Friday, and was making her comeback in the Champions League – seven years after her last appearance in the competition. In 2015, the 37-year-old won the Champions League with ZRK Budocnost Podgorica and was even named the most valuable player.

But the Black & Yellows pulled themselves together and fought their way back into the game. The strong performances by goalkeeper Yara ten Holte and pivot Merel Freriks, who played herself into dangerous positions time after time, were key elements of the fightback. Fatos Kücükyildiz reduced the deficit to 15-12 with a beautiful shot in the 26th minute, prompting Rostov coach Jonassen to call a time-out. André Fuhr's tactics worked. In defence, he put Kücükyildiz in an offensive role; in attack, he opted for a second pivot. Rostov could not offer an answer.

A setback occurred shortly before the half-time whistle, with the score at 17-12. Tessa van Zijl unluckily struck Grace Zaadi Deune on the head during a free throw from close range and was sent off. BVB had long since put their stuttering start behind them and even though the Dortmund ladies found themselves a player down for the first two minutes after the break due to Tessa van Zijl's disqualification, Merels Freriks and Jackie Moreno reduced the deficit to 17-14 to give the Black & Yellows hope. Kücükyildiz then made it 18-16. But in this pivotal spell, both Jackie Moreno and Mia Zschocke received time penalties. The two referees did not look upon BVB especially favourably.

The fact the game was not closer in the second period can be put down to the personnel shortages in the Dortmund ranks. Captain Alina Grijseels was out of action with a broken nose, while Jennifer Gutiérrez Bermejo has not yet returned to action after recovering from the coronavirus and still needs to undergo several examinations. André Fuhr had hardly any options from the bench following the red card shown to Tessa van Zijl. By the 50th minute, the score stood at 26-21. Amelie Berger then scored her second goal with five minutes to go to bring BVB back to within four goals at 27-23.

In the closing stages, André Fuhr finally broke up the defensive cover. Fatos Kücükyildiz scored via a penalty to make it 28-24 and netted another penalty two minutes later to make it 29-25. The final score was 31-25. The 300 spectators were satisfied and congratulated the women's handball team on a respectable performance with a standing ovation.

BVB: ten Holte, Woltering; van Zijl (2), van der Heijden (4), Kücükyildiz (7/3), Rønning (1), Zschocke (1),  Moreno (2), Abdulla, Berger (2), Freriks (6), Sando, Uscinowicz.

Reactions:

Per Anders Johannsson (Rostov-Don coach): "We prepared intensively to face Dortmund and repeatedly had to adapt to new tactical approaches in the first half. We knew that Dortmund were strong and are happy to have won here."

Vladlene Bobravnikova (Rostov-Don player): "We knew that it was going to be difficult in Dortmund. It developed into a game with many ups and downs. We could never pull away decisively."

Andre Fuhr (Borussia Dortmund coach): "We showed too much respect at the start; when we put that respect aside, we got to within two goals. But in the end, our small squad lacked penetration against this strong Rostov team full of international players. But I'm absolutely satisfied with the performance."