Felix Hirschnagl had to do without several key players in the clash with Schalke: Jan-Luca Riedl and Enzo dos Santos were with the senior team, while Fadi Zarqelain and Luke Fahrenhorst were part of the U23 squad. In addition, Ahmad Najdi, Johann Lasse Jaensch, Peniel Poba and Hamzath Mohamadou were absent through injury. As a result, the coach largely stuck with the starting XI that had won the opening match in Oberhausen 4-2. Luis Alaze came into midfield for Najdi, while Liam Kante defended in place of Lenni Strößner.
BVB started confidently, moved the ball around well and crowned their promising start with the opening goal in the eighth minute. The move was initiated by Tom Faust, who sent Justin Hoy on his way with a diagonal pass. Schalke defender Lasse Deutschmann turned the captain’s cross over the line ahead of the waiting Bjarki Gardarsson. The Black and Yellows dominated the match and created further chances, but Justin Hoy in particular, who stood out, lacked luck and precision in front of goal (16th, 26th minute). Luis Alaze was unfortunate too: after a mistake by goalkeeper Kyrylo Khadesevych, he shot at goal from 16 meters, but Amir El Abdouni headed the ball clear of danger (44th).
Schalke coach Norbert Elgert reacted early, making personnel and tactical changes in the 36th minute. They had an immediate effect after the restart. Switzerland’s Timo Wiesner first failed in a one-on-one against BVB keeper Julien Froese, who reacted brilliantly, and then struck the outside of the post with a free-kick from 18 meters (51st/52nd). Schalke were much more present and active in the second half. Mika Brocks hit the post after 72 minutes, while at the other end it was mainly Justin Hoy who provided the spark and hit the crossbar with a free-kick in the 70th minute. All in all, Borussia deservedly came away with the derby win.
“After the break, it was a bit of youthful madness. But overall, we put a lot into it, and maybe that’s why we were rewarded. I always believe in karma,” said coach Felix Hirschnagl, recalling last year’s unfortunate 3-3 draw in the main round: “We didn’t get the derby win over the line in the decisive phase then, but this time we did.”
BVB now have two away games in a row: on Sunday (23/08, 11:00) at VfL Osnabrück and on Wednesday (26/08, 18:00) at MSV Duisburg.
U19: Froese – Vogt, Ritter (62. König), Kante (59. Strößner), Adje (88. Kaymak) – Alaze (59. Hagemann) – Kostoglou, Faust (88. Burkhardt) – Mirza, Gardarsson, Hoy
U17 had already gone 3-0 up in Bochum
U17 coach Karsten Gorges named exactly the same starting XI in Bochum that had beaten Wuppertaler SV 7-0 in the league opener. Later on, Hamzath Mohamadou and Athanasios Grammozis got their first minutes after long injury layoffs.
The Black and Yellows began the match on the grass pitch at the Ruhrstadion highly focused. Jonas Maurice Chowaniec gave BVB a 1-0 lead after five minutes following excellent work from Ilyas Arzini. Bochum responded, and an intense derby developed with chances at both ends.
After the break, Borussia came into the game better than their opponents and, after some fine combination play, forced a handball penalty and a red card for the hosts. Arzini converted the spot-kick for 2-0 (47th), and Niclas Goldberg added the third (56th). After the two substitutions, BVB lost their structure and, despite having a numerical advantage, lost their grip on the game. Bochum pulled it back to 3-2 in the closing stages (Jonas Simon, 83rd; Wail Akkouh El Moussa, 88th). In the end, Bennet Birtner preserved the win. “For an hour it was a really good performance from us, after that we got careless and made too many passing errors. All in all, it was a deserved win,” summed up Karsten Gorges.
Next Saturday (22/08), the U17s travel to MSV Duisburg.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.