Felix Hirschnagl had to do without several key players in the match against Schalke: Jan-Luca Riedl and Enzo dos Santos were with the first team, while Fadi Zarqelain and Luke Fahrenhorst were with the U23s. In addition, Ahmad Najdi, Johann Lasse Jaensch, Peniel Poba, and Hamzath Mohamadou were out with injuries. As a result, the coach largely stuck with the starting lineup that had won the season opener in Oberhausen 4–2. Luis Alaze moved into midfield in place of Najdi, and Liam Kante played defense in place of Lenni Strößner.
BVB started confidently, moving the ball around, and capped off their promising start with a 1–0 lead in the eighth minute. The goal was set up by Tom Faust, who sent Justin Hoy on his way with a diagonal pass. Schalke defender Lasse Deutschmann deflected the captain’s cross over the line just before Bjarki Gardarsson could get a shot off. The Black and Yellows dominated the match and created further chances, but the standout Justin Hoy, in particular, lacked both luck and precision in front of goal (16th, 26th). Luis Alaze was unlucky: After a mistake by goalkeeper Kyrylo Khadesevych, he shot on goal from 16 meters, but Amir El Abdouni headed the ball clear of the danger zone (44th minute).
Schalke coach Norbert Elgert had reacted early, making personnel and tactical changes in the 36th minute. These changes took effect immediately after the restart. Swiss player Timo Wiesner was initially denied in a one-on-one situation by BVB goalkeeper Julien Froese, who reacted brilliantly; he then struck a free kick from 18 meters that hit the outside post (51st/52nd). Schalke was much more present and active in the second half. Mika Brocks hit the post in the 72nd minute, while on the other end, Justin Hoy was the standout player and struck the crossbar with a free kick in the 70th minute. All in all, it was a well-deserved derby victory for Borussia.
“After the break, it was a bit of youthful madness. But we put in a lot of effort overall, and maybe that’s why we were rewarded. I always believe in karma,” summarized coach Felix Hirschnagl, who recalled last year’s unfortunate 3–3 draw in the regular season: “Back then, we didn’t pull off the derby win in the decisive phase; this time, we did it.”
BVB now faces two away games: on Sunday (23 August, 11:00) at VfL Osnabrück, and on Wednesday (26 August, 18:00) at MSV Duisburg.
Froese – Vogt, Ritter (62. König), Kante (59. Strößner), Adje (88. Kaymak) – Alaze (59. Hagemann) – Kostoglou, Faust (88. Burkhardt) – Mirza, Gardarsson, Hoy
U17 already led 3-0 in Bochum
U17 coach Karsten Gorges fielded exactly the same starting lineup in Bochum as the one that had defeated Wuppertaler SV 7-0 in the league opener. Later in the match, Hamzath Mohamadou and Athanasios Grammozis made their first appearances after long injury layoffs.
The Black and Yellows started the match on the grass field at the Ruhrstadion with intense focus. Jonas Maurice Chowaniec put BVB ahead 1–0 after five minutes following a strong assist from Ilyas Arzini. Bochum held their own, leading to an intense derby with chances on both sides.
After the break, the Borussians got into the game better than their opponents; following some impressive combination play, they drew a handball penalty and a red card for the hosts. Arzini converted the penalty to make it 2–0 (47th), and Niclas Goldberg added the third goal to make it 3–0 (56th). After two substitutions, BVB lost their structure, and the team lost its rhythm despite having a numerical advantage. Bochum pulled one back in the closing stages to make it 3–2 (Jonas Simon, 83rd; Wail Akkouh El Moussa, 88th). In the end, Bennet Birtner secured the victory. “For an hour, we played a really good game, but then we got careless and made too many passing errors. All in all, it was a well-deserved victory,” said Karsten Gorges.
Next Saturday (22 August), the U17 team will play on the road against MSV Duisburg.