Borussia Dortmund’s U17 squad just pulled off a huge derby win against Schalke, a 1-0 shutout that sent them clear at the top of the standings, but the celebration is probably a little muted after the U19 squad let a two-goal lead vanish in a crushing 4-3 friendly loss. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions for the Black and Yellow faithful in one day, right?
U17 Grinds Out the Derby Win and Locks Down The Defense
Karsten Gorges’ U17 squad showed up ready to fight in the derby, even with Dimitrios Grammozis suspended and Jonas Chowaniec sidelined by injury. Striker Hamzath Mohamadou was back though, and he made an instant impact. The Black and Yellows came out firing, with Adriano Bejta forcing a quick save from Schalke keeper Burak Uzun just two minutes in. Emre Kirar then rattled the crossbar from long range at the eleven-minute mark. Schalke tried to get into it, but BVB kept pushing and deservedly grabbed the lead in the 23rd minute when Mohamadou fired one home from a tight angle, giving Uzun no chance. The lively Mohamadou almost made it 2-0 before halftime, but Uzun delivered another strong save.
The big story though, especially for Coach Gorges, was the defense. After giving up a combined five goals in their previous matches against Bochum and Duisburg, this BVB team looked completely different. They played with focus and commitment in the second half, shutting down Schalke despite their opponents having more of the ball. Schalke just couldn’t find a way through. Coach Gorges was pumped, saying it was “a good team performance, very determined and compact in defense,” and that the “team has improved on defensive set pieces.” He did call out giving the ball away too often in transition, but you know he’s stoked with this ideal start to the season.
U19 Meltdown Raises Some Serious Questions
While the U17s were celebrating, the U19 team was nursing a serious wound after blowing a friendly against Viktoria Köln, losing 4-3. They looked dominant early, grabbing a 2-0 lead by halftime thanks to a fantastic brace from new signing Amine Lettifi, a 17-year-old Frenchman who joined from US Lesquin. It was a dream debut for him! But then the wheels fell off. After several personnel changes, they completely lost control. Keron Hagemann tied it up at 3-3, but the visitors snatched the winner in the closing stages.
That kind of collapse is just brutal. Coach Felix Hirschnagl didn’t mince words, calling “conceding four goals in 15 minutes very frustrating.” He pointed out that “not all of the players put forward a good case for themselves for the upcoming tasks,” and you have to agree with him. Letting a two-goal lead slip and giving up four goals in such a short span is a massive red flag.
The U17 squad looks to keep their momentum rolling next Saturday with an away match at RW Essen at 1 p.m. The U19s, on the other hand, need to figure things out fast. They have two massive tests coming up: first against RW Essen on Saturday, September 5th at 11 a.m. in the DFB youth league, and then they kick off their UEFA Youth League campaign on Tuesday, September 8th against Villarreal CF. They better use those training sessions to tighten things up, or it’s going to be a long week.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply