Borussia’s U17s have defended top spot in the table in the DFB special round thanks to a deserved 1-0 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

“It was a good performance overall,” reflected head coach Karsten Gorges, who – on top of Alex Niziolek and Elias Benkara – welcomed back an additional returnee in Raul König. BVB increasingly settled into the game against the aggressive “Young Foals” after 10 minutes. Gökdeniz Gürpüz, Kjell Wätjen, Charles Herrmann and Alex Niziolek all had chances to open the scoring but at the other end the BVB defence also gave away one or two chances in this game, which was varied and contested at a remarkable level. “2-1 or 3-1 would’ve been deserved at half-time,” said Karsten Gorges. 

The visitors withdrew more and more in the second period, while BVB increasingly dominated proceedings and scored the only goal of the game in the 85th minute. Gürpüz headed home a cross from the outstanding Almugera Kabar to deservedly make it 1-0. With a mixture of luck and skill, Borussia kept Mönchengladbach’s stormy late offensive at bay.

The U17s will next take on VfL Bochum in the DFB special match round at the Brackel Youth Performance Centre on Wednesday (18:00 CET).

U17s: Lisewski – Rashidi (Numbisie, 46), Meiser, Plöger (Benkara, 46), Kabar – Uka (Adamcyzk, 75), Kerlen, Wätjen (König, 46), Gürpüz, Herrmann – Niziolek (Zickler, 75)
(wiwi)