U23s battle to point against Saarbrücken despite early red card

The Borussia Dortmund U23s remain unbeaten in the new year. BVB had to play more than 80 minutes against 1. FC Saarbrücken with 10 men after Falko Michel was shown an early red card. The equaliser for the visitors came shortly before the final whistle.

The scenario: Three matches, seven points. The U23s' points haul at the start of the new year could hardly have been better. BVB made two big statements with their wins against promotion hopefuls Regensburg and Dresden in particular. Dortmund went into Matchday 24 with 35 points on the board, four more than 1. FC Saarbrücken. Aside from their inspiring performances in the DFB-Pokal, the Saarland outfit have fallen short of their own expectations to date.

Personnel matters: The ongoing injury problems in the first-team squad have also rendered U23 coach Jan Zimmermann's personnel planning more difficult. Goalkeeper Marcel Lotka, Ole Pohlmann and Samuel Bamba once again bolstered the senior squad, who were playing another match in parallel to the BVB reserves. In addition, there were numerous injury-enforced absences for players such as Antonios Papadopoulos, Paul-Philipp Besong and Bjarne Pudel. Only Ayman Azhil returned to the team following his suspension. Zimmermann once again trusted Silas Ostrzinski between the sticks.

The match & analysis: The match started with a shock for BVB. Falko Michel overlooked Julian Günther-Schmidt when attempting a clearance on the edge of his own box. The Dortmund player went for the ball with a high foot and unintentionally caught an opponent in the neck and head region with his studs. Referee Timon Schulz showed the midfielder a red card for the challenge (8). Günther-Schmidt had to receive treatment in the changing rooms following the unfortunate collision and only returned to the pitch - wearing a bandage - after an eight-minute treatment break.

After the early dismissal, the game was initially a hard-fought affair: Dortmund allowed Saarbrücken to have the ball and withdrew into their own half. Saarbrücken could hardly manage to carve out dangerous shooting opportunities against BVB's solid defence. Ostrzinski did not have much to do.

Rodney Elongo-Yombo then fired BVB into a slightly surprising lead with a dream strike (26), the forward finding the net with a right-footed effort from around 25 metres to make it 1-0. Ostrzinski almost conceded a goal only seconds before the opener. After making an unclean contact with the ball, he managed to poke it past Kai Brünker as he chased him down before initiating the move for Elongo-Yombo's goal with a kick downfield.

The visitors from Saarbrücken were now even more under pressure and upped the ante. But the Saarland outfit were lacking that finishing touch in the final third, with major opportunities few and far between - until the 45th minute when a corner kick from the right slid through to Marcel Gaus. But the left-back fired the ball well over the frame of the goal. With Gaus having spurned the chance to level, BVB took in a 1-0 lead at the break.

The fans at Stadion Rote Erde witnessed a similar story in the second period too: FCS had more possession of the ball but a depleted Dortmund side did not shirk away from a single challenge. Günther-Schmidt suddenly found himself through on the BVB goal slightly out of nothing but headed the ball straight into Ostrzinski's arms from two metres out (60). At the other end, Julian Hettwer afforded himself too much time following a great ball from Lion Semic and was decisively disrupted. He failed to beat FCS shot-stopper Tim Schreiber from a narrow angle (64). In this period of the match, Zimmermann's charges repeatedly made dangerous attacking in-roads thanks to their quick switch-play, but were not clinical enough. Azhil could only strike the side-netting (75).

Azhil's chance marked the start of an intensive final phase. Saarbrücken pushed for an equaliser but the ball either went wide or BVB keeper Ostrzinski or a defender's leg got in the way. But the equalising goal for 1-1 did eventually come: Kasim Rabihic's free-kick picked out Manuel Zeit, whose header caught Ostrzinski wrong-footed (86). Zeitz came extremely close to bagging a brace, but headed the ball narrowly wide of the mark in stoppage time and so the score stayed 1-1 until the end.

Coach Jan Zimmermann: "My boys played a super game. An unnecessary free-kick then led to the equaliser. We could of course have defended the free-kick too. But when you're down a player for 80 minutes and then concede an equaliser in such a situation and don't win the match as a result, it is part and parcel of it to be angry and dissatisfied. However, if you're down a player for 85 minutes against Saarbrücken and are frustrated with a draw, you're on a good path."

Outlook: Next up for the U23s is an away match. The Black & Yellows will pay a visit to Viktoria Köln next Friday (9 February). Kick-off is at 19:00 CET. BVB won the reverse fixture by a 2-1 scoreline.

Goals: 1-0 Elongo-Yombo (26), 1-1 Zeitz (86)

Red card: Michel (8)

U23s: Ostrzinski - Aidonis, Pfanne, Suver, Semic (Aning, 82) - Azhil, Roggow, Eberwein - Hettwer (Tattermusch, 82), Elongo-Yombo, Michel
Phillip Oldenburg