U23s draw 1-1 with VfB Lübeck | OneFootball

The Borussia Dortmund U23s took the lead in the second half of their home game against VfB Lübeck. But only a matter of minutes later, the visitors from the Hanseatic City levelled the scores at 1-1. The Black & Yellows now head into the international break with a decent tally of 21 points on the board.

The scenario: VfB Lübeck had travelled to Dortmund having won only one of their last 11 matches. The Northern Germans had beaten Viktoria Köln two weeks ago and went into the game eight points behind BVB in the relegation zone. The U23s had also managed only one victory in their previous seven games (against Mannheim).

Personnel matters: Coach Jan Zimmermann had to reshuffle once again. The suspended Marcel Lotka (red card) and Michael Eberwein (fifth yellow card) were replaced by Tiago Estevao, who made his first appearance for BVB, and Abdoulaye Kamara. Long-term injury absentee Dennis Lütke-Frie returned to the squad.

The match & analysis: BVB created the first good opportunity after only 50 seconds: Julian Hettwer received the ball in the box from Rodney Elongo-Yombo and pulled the trigger immediately, but Lübeck defender Sören Reddemann made a block to thwart the grave danger. The attack-minded VfB created three major chances in the subsequent 15 minutes, all of them from set-pieces. The next opportunity for BVB fell to Franz Roggow following a corner, but his attempt from a header flew over the crossbar. The Black & Yellows repeatedly managed to get dangerously close to the visitors' penalty area. Ole Pohlmann squared the ball in the box following a lovely solo run shortly before the break, but VfB custodian Philipp Klewin was on hand and intercepted the pass. The half-time whistle sounded with the score goalless.

BVB were more livelier and had more possession in the second period. The best moment so far came when Abdoulaye Kamara played a long ball to Hettwer, who pulled away from all the defenders, but his shot rocketed against the inside of the post. The visiting goalie got down at the last moment a few minutes later and turned a shot from Pohlmann behind for a corner, which resulted in the next chance for Borussia Dortmund in the 62nd minute: substitute Mario Suver flicked the ball on with a header to Elongo-Yombo, who nodded home to put the Black & Yellows 1-0 up.

But the BVB lead lasted only a matter of minutes. Following a corner from Tarik Gözüsirin, Sören Reddemann headed the ball into Tiago Estevao's goal. After 65 minutes, the score was 1-1. Samuel Bamba replaced Kamara a short while later and was charged with injecting tempo down the left of the BVB attack. After a corner by Patrick Göbel and an attack via Bueno, BVB once again neared the goal but the visitors passionately threw themselves into the path of the shots. At the other end, Falko Michel made a last-second intervention as a Lübeck attacker prepared to shoot. VfB started to get closer to the BVB goal more often again in the closing stages, albeit without ever finding the net. Both teams wanted to get a winner. Hendry Blank squandered a headed opportunity, while Lübeck missed from a free-kick. Bamba subsequently stopped a Lübeck counter-attack in its tracks with a foul: the Dortmund youngster was sent off in stoppage time.

Coach Jan Zimmermann: "We didn't play in behind as quickly and purposefully as we had planned. As a result, there were not many shooting opportunities. After taking the lead, we must be capable of keeping a clean sheet. Lübeck only had opportunities as a result of our losses of possession or set-pieces."

Outlook: The 3. Liga now pauses for the international break. The U23s will continue with an away game against Erzgebirge Aue on 25 November.

Goals: 1-0 Elongo-Yombo (62), 1-1 Reddemann (66)

Red card: Bamba (90+4)

U23s: Estevao – Bueno, Blank, Pfanne, Göbel – Roggow (Suver, 46), Pohlmann, Kamara (Bamba, 72) – Michel, Elongo-Yombo (Nischalke, 83), Hettwer (Semic, 83)