U23s to close out the English week against Unterhaching | OneFootball

The Borussia Dortmund U23s will round off the English week in the 3. Liga on Sunday (16:30) when they play their second home game in the space of five days. Spielvereinigung Unterhaching will be the visitors to Stadion Rote Erde.

The Dortmund reserves are the team of the moment in the 3. Liga. Coach Jan Zimmermann's charges have catapulted themselves into the upper echelons of the table with three wins in a row. And Borussia could even establish themselves in this region with a fourth consecutive win.

While the next opponents from Unterhaching were not in action in midweek and will arrive in Westphalia well-rested, the BVB youngsters played their Matchday 9 clash against MSV Duisburg, which had been brought forward, on Wednesday evening. The Black & Yellows ultimately celebrated a 1-0 victory over the Meiderich outfit, which proved to be energy-sapping on the one hand but boosted their self-confidence on the other.

The win involved a special success for Paul Besong, who celebrated scoring for the first time since returning to BVB – albeit with a delay, as he explained with a smile: "The whole situation after the goal was a bit confusing. That's why I wasn't happy at first, as I didn't know exactly what was happening. When the referee pointed to the halfway line, it was just a feeling of happiness."

Besong scores first goal

The attacker's form is clearly on an upward trajectory. The 22-year-old shone with three assists in the wins against Köln and in Kerl, and finally found the net himself for the first time on Wednesday. "The first goal of the season is always important for a striker. It gives you self-confidence to have this hurdle behind you," Besong admitted after the game. Especially as he and his team-mates were having some difficulties in front of goal in the opening weeks of the campaign. "It was frustrating. But we knew as a team what we were capable of and that at some point it would click into place." The latest winning streak is giving the entire team a boost – and further room for improvement. "We know what we can do. But we still have a lot of potential that we have not yet exploited."

Many observers will expect another victory from BVB in the home game against Unterhaching. But coach Zimmermann warns: "We have three days to prepare ourselves for an opponent that will again demand everything from us. It's an opponent that will certainly not play champagne football here but will instead try to defend well and hit us on the counter." For his team, it is important to work on "playing better with the ball" than we did after the break against MSV. Fundamentally, however, the coach is pleased with the recent development: "We have won three tough and close games."

Following a two-year absence, Spielvereinigung Unterhaching returned to the 3. Liga this summer as champions of the Regionalliga Bayern. But the team then lost their promotion-winning coach Sandro Wagner. The 35-year-old is now the assistant coach of the German national team. His successor is Marc Unterberger, who had previously coached the Haching U19s.Daniel Mertens