The Borussia Dortmund U19s continued their impressive winning streak in the Little Derby and comfortably beat VfL Bochum, who had recently defeated FC Schalke 04, 3-1 away from home.

After eight rounds of matches, U19 coach Mike Tullberg’s charges top the table in the A-Junior Bundesliga West with a perfect score of 24 points. The two closest challengers Bayer 04 Leverkusen (18 points) and FC Schalke 04 (16 points), who occupy second and third place respectively, will go head-to-head on Sunday.

With Charles Herrmann attacking down the left flank and Julian Rijkhoff leading the line, BVB made a focus, determined and rousing start to the match at VfL Bochum’s Youth Performance Centre on Hiltroper Straße. The boys were rewarded for their attack-minded approach in the fourth minute of the match: Rafael Lubach, who played all three EURO qualifying matches for the Germany U19 national team over the international period (6-0 against Kazakhstan, 3-1 against North Macedonia and 3-3 versus Poland), delivered a free-kick towards Jaden Korzynietz, whose cross was headed unstoppably past VfL goalkeeper Hugo Rölleke by Danilo Krevsun to open the scoring at 1-0.

It marked the start of a wild opening phase, because it was not long before the hosts offered a response. Bochum defender Luca Bernsdorf levelled the scores at 1-1 almost immediately by firing the ball, which had been inadequately cleared by the Borussia defence, into the net. Bochum, meanwhile, could only enjoy their success for a brief moment because Julian Rijkhoff slotted home from the penalty spot 120 seconds later to put Dortmund back in front and make it 2-1 at half-time. 

Mike Tullberg’s team played with dynamism and purpose, controlled the ball and opposition, and clearly dominated the game against a Bochum team that was highly motivated for the derby. Danilo Krevsun scored again and upped the lead to 3-1 with a spectacular goal at the start of the second half (55). The attacking player volleyed home a cross from William Rashidi with his instep – a beautifully executed goal that drew a round of applause from the fans. 

Julian Rijkhoff had the opportunity to wrap it up once and for all a short while later when he went clean through on goal but could not properly convert the chance. Danylo Krevsun also spurned another big chance from five metres out after he had been set up perfectly by Jaden Korzynietz (66). Bochum came to life once again in the closing stages. Even though they had a few half-chances, keeper Robin Lisewski was on hand to make the saves.

Mike Tullberg praises the team performance

U19 coach Mike Tullberg summarised the match: “We have a difficult week behind us. I only told the boys in a huddle before the kick-off that we’ve talked about the meaning of a team a lot in the past and I spelled the word “team” out again. The team completely internalised that.” He went on to add: “They did that outstandingly against a good opponent and on a difficult playing surface.”

From Monday onwards, he will be preparing his team for their third UEFA Youth League group game against Newcastle United on Wednesday (25 October, 16:00 CET). Samuel Bamba and Hendry Blank from the U23s are then expected to bolster the squad. The next league match is against Fortuna Düsseldorf at the Youth Performance Centre on Sunday (29 October, 11:00 CET).

U19s: Lisewski – Rashidi, Mane, Posadas, Korzynietz – Lubach, Wätjen – Campbell (Onofrietti, 67), Krevsun, Herrmann (Diallo, 85) – Rijkhoff (König, 77).

U17 match postponed until 1 November

The U17s’ match away to MSV Duisburg, which was initially scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed until 1 November (11:00 CET) because players Tyler Meiser and Nick Cherny are still in EURO qualifying action with the Germany U17 national team this weekend. The Borussia Dortmund U17s’ next match will be against Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Dortmund-Brackel Youth Performance Centre on Saturday 28 October (11:00 CET). (wiwi)