U19s extend lead with 1-0 victory in Aachen

The Borussia Dortmund U19s continued their successful run of results in the A-Junior Bundesliga West with a deserved but hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Alemannia Aachen. Mike Tullberg's team now top the table with an eight-point lead after challengers Bayer Leverkusen slipped up in a 2-2 draw with VfL Bochum.

The home team had to play almost the entirety of the second period with 10 men after John Pisani was sent off for repeated foul play in the 47th minute. "I have to praise the opponent, who never gave up, but I was not satisfied with our performance," summarised coach Mike Tullberg.

BVB were without Cole Campbell, who was starting a two-match ban for his red card against Paderborn, captain Kjell Wätjen (also suspended), Filippo Mane and Charles Herrmann (both injured). Ousmane Diallo lined up down the left flank, while Marlon Ubani played on the right wing and Vincenzo Onofrietti replaced Wätjen in midfield. Almugera Kabar made the squad for the first time since sustaining an injury at the U17 World Cup and came on in the 68th minute.

Tullberg had to work with a small group that was bolstered by U17 players in training last week too, because the majority of his squad had to be loaned to the first-team and U23 squads. "You can of course see that in our play, we're lacking automatisms and tempo," explained Tullberg, who reacted to the poor start to the match by making his first substitutions after only half an hour.

Alex Niziolek, who was making his debut in the A-Junior Bundesliga, in particular brought fresh momentum to the game and earned special praise from Tullberg. "He performed really well." However, Niziolek did miss one or two big opportunities. Paris Brunner scored the only goal of the game from a Nick Cherny cross in the 75th minute. Brunner had already spurned an opportunity to open the scoring in the first period, but failed to beat Aachen shot-stopper Luca Schmidt from close range in the 26th minute. A combative and strong Alemannia, who also had some good footballing moments, ensured the game remained open until the final whistle.

Play-off tie in Zilina on Wednesday

The team still have a lot to accomplish before their UEFA Youth League play-off tie away to MSK Zilina on Wednesday (kick-off 16:30 CET), especially given the difficult personnel situation. Jaden Korzynietz also had to come off with an injury at the half-time interval. Midfielder Kjell Wätjen will return to the team.

BVB are next in Bundesliga action when they play host to Wuppertaler SV on Sunday 11 February.

BVB: Lisewski - Rashidi, Meiser (Kabar, 68), Posadas, Korzynietz (Adamczyk, 46) - Lubach, Onofrietti - Ubani (Niziolek, 31), Krevsun, Diallo (Cherny, 31) - Brunner.

(wiwi)