Another goalless draw: U23s pick up point in Regensburg

The scenario: Both teams had started the new season with a victory and a draw. The last meeting to date with the team that was relegated from the second division this year had taken place eight and a half years earlier. All three away games in the Upper Palatinate had ended in defeat.

Göz Atın

Only Brandt nets for BVB in 1-1 draw with FSV

“The unsatisfying end to an unsatisfactory first half of the season”

Two completely different halves

Personnel matters: Dortmund coach Jan Zimmermann trusted the same starting line-up that had beaten the SC Freiburg U23s 1-0 at the Rote Erde around 72 hours earlier.

The match & analysis: The two teams sounded a cautious note in the opening stages and offered each other little room, which meant there were no chances up until the first drinks break in the 24th minute. Nonetheless, the Black & Yellows were the dominant team on the banks of the Danube with more possession in the opposition half.

Shortly after the refreshments break, Julian Hettwer found himself clean through on Regensburg goalie Felix Gebhardt following a deflected Michael Eberwein effort and shot from a tight angle, but the keeper came out on top in the one-on-one battle (27).

It was not until shortly before the break that BVB recorded the first big opportunity of the game. After a short pass from his own goalkeeper, Regensburg’s Louis Breunig gave the ball away on the right corner of the penalty area but the onrushing Hettwer fired his low shot narrowly wide of the back post (39). A matter of moments later, Falko Michel picked out the run of Paul Besong on the left side of the penalty area, only for his shot to sail wide of the far corner too (41).

Shortly after the break, a shot from Besong took a deflection off a Regensburg player and struck the side-netting of the Jahn goal (51). But the best opportunity fell to the home team after Bueno had lost possession of the ball in midfield following a challenge with Benedikt Saller, who cut the ball back to Dominik Kother, whose shot was thwarted by Marcel Lotka (62).

A short while later, Jermain Nischalke replaced Besong for BVB. And the Dortmund fan favourite had the best chance of the match only a matter of seconds later: Hendry Blank won the ball back in his own half and passed it to Michel, who teed up Nischalke on the edge of the penalty box. Regensburg’s keeper turned Nischalke’s low shot from 16 metres around the right post (63).

The Black & Yellow U23s endured more misfortune in the closing stages when they were denied a penalty after Nischalke’s shirt was tugged by Rasim Bulic on the edge of the six-yard box (84).

Coach Jan Zimmermann: “We were slightly too static in the first half; we took more risks in the second. That was a very mature performance. We should have got a clear penalty. That’s a shame because the lads would’ve deserved the victory a tad more than Regensburg. We’ve started with five points from a not easy first few games; that gives us even more self-belief and courage.”

Outlook: The U23s have a home game on the agenda on Saturday (14:00 CET): the match against Dynamo Dresden will take place at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.

U23s: Lotka – Göbel, Blank, Pudel, Bueno – Eberwein, Pfanne, Pohlmann (Roggow, 83) – Hettwer (Bamba, 90+1), Besong (Nischalke, 62), Michel (Butler, 83).

Daniel Mertens