U23 pick up point away to Wehen Wiesbaden in opening game | OneFootball

The 2,900 spectators in attendance in Wiesbaden saw the Black & Yellow youngsters deliver a committed display. The U23s initially fell behind in the second half following a defensive mix-up, before Rodney Elongo-Yombo found the net to rescue a 1-1 draw.

Personnel matters: Among the absentees in Wiesbaden were Valentino Vermeulen, Marco Pasalic, Justin Njinmah, Dennis Lütke-Frie, Timo Bornemann, Aday Ercan, Jayden Braaf, Marcel Lotka and Niklas Lübcke. New signing Rodney Elongo-Yombo made the squad for the first time. The former Fürth player only received his clearance to play on Monday lunchtime.

The opposition: Opponents Wiesbaden had a quiet time of it on the transfer market, with six new signings and six departures. Coach Markus Kauczinski's team were therefore relatively familiar with each other already. "I'm expecting a very mature and physically robust team. I think they want to finish in the top third of the table. So it'll be a tough nut for us to crack at the outset," commented BVB head coach Christian Preußer prior to the game.

The match & analysis: The first good chance of the match came when Brooklyn Ezeh only narrowly missed out on putting the home side ahead. It was equally close at the other end only a matter of seconds later when Bueno fizzed the ball across the goal. But a Wiesbaden defender turned the ball behind for a corner before Bradley Fink could reach it.

After the fast-paced start, the game calmed down somewhat. BVB had slightly more of the ball and could have taken the lead when a great chance fell to Bradley Fink in the 34th minute of the match, but the U19 champion from last season was first denied by the keeper and then by a Wiesbaden defender at the second attempt. The half-time whistle sounded with the score at 0-0.

Once the second period was under way, the hosts exploited a defensive mix-up in the Dortmund ranks to take a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute. Gustaf Nilsson's shot from 16 metres sailed unstoppably into the Dortmund net. BVB boss Christian Preußer reacted and brought on some fresh legs in attack, introducing Moritz Broschinski, Falko Michel and Rodney Elongo-Yombo to the fray.

BVB pressed in search of a leveller and came close to equalising in the 75th minute when Falko Michel had a go from close range. The Black & Yellows were eventually rewarded two minutes later when Michael Eberwein fed Rodney Elongo-Yombo, who scored on his competitive debut for Borussia to level the score at 1-1. Both teams pushed for a winning goal in the closing stages, but the final whistle eventually sounded after 90 intense minutes with the score still 1-1.

BVB U23s: Unbehaun – Finnsson, Dams (Suver, 74), Papadopoulos – Bueno, Özkan (Michel, 63), Pfanne, Semic (Elongo-Yombo, 63) – Eberwein, Fink (Broschinski, 63), Pohlmann (Tattermusch, 84)

Goals: 1-0 Nilsson (55), 1-1 Elongo-Yombo (77)

Outlook: Our U23s will play host to FC Ingolstadt, who were relegated from the 2. Bundesliga, on Sunday 7 August. Kick-off is at 13:00 CET.