After victories against Hennef and Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Borussia U17s have suffered their first defeat of the DFB’s special round. Coach Karsten Gorges’ team succumbed to a 2-1 loss to VfL Bochum.

A Black & Yellow side missing a number of key players – including Cole Campbell, Kjell Wätjen, Gökdeniz Gürpüz, William Rashidi, Elias Benkara and Tyler Meiser – were already 2-0 down at the break. Ciwan Günes put Bochum 1-0 ahead after a misunderstanding between Gustav Aabro, Venis Uka and Dustin Plöger in the eighth minute, before Zinedine Durmus converted a controversial spot-kick awarded for a foul by Almugera Kabar to make it 2-0 (25). Alex Niziolek missed the only noteworthy opportunity for Dortmund. “The first half was not good in footballing terms. We played too many long balls and were not patient in our build-up play against an aggressive Bochum side,” commented Karsten Gorges. 

After the break, Charles Herrmann reduced the deficit to 2-1 (53). But it was not enough, despite their best efforts. “I cannot reproach the team for their combative spirit, particularly in the second period. We also had some good opportunities to get an equaliser then,” said Gorges. The best chances were spurned by Almugera Kabar and Fritz Fleck.

BVB will play their final match of the group stages away to Fortuna Cologne on Sunday (kick-off at 13:00 CET).

U17s: Aabro – Numbisie, Adamczyk, Plöger, Kabar – Zickler (Blaszczyk, 46), Uka, Kerlen (Mahjoubi, 51), König (Dzonga, 46), Herrmann (Sadeghi, 61) – Niziolek (Fleck, 51)

(wiwi)