Borussia Dortmund's U23s ensured they started the year on a winning note by beating SV Waldhof Mannheim away from home in an intense third-tier encounter. The Black & Yellows triumphed 3-1 (0-1) thanks to goals from Ole Pohlmann, Immanuel Pherai and Tobi Raschl and showed plenty of passion to come from behind in the second half.

The opposition: The hosts, who had taken 34 points from 20 matches and were knocking on the door of the promotion places, were having a good season. Coach Patrick Glöckner's charges went into the game in fourth place. In Dominik Martinovic (10 goals), SVW had one of the most dangerous centre-forwards in their ranks. His team-mates included former BVB player Joseph Boyamba and veteran Marc Schnatterer. They were without Marco Höger, a former Bundesliga player, and regulars Niklas Wilson-Sommer und Adrian Lebeau, who were all suspended.

Personnel matters: BVB coach Enrico Maassen made five changes to the XI that started the final fixture of 2021, with Stefan Drljaca, Kolbeinn Finnsson, Ansgar Knauff, Abdoulaye Kamara and Bradley Fink replacing Jan-Pascal Reckert, Soumaila Coulibaly, Ted Tattermusch, Tobi Raschl and Ole Pohlmann. It was Fink's debut in the third tier. With an average age of 21.4 years, it was the youngest BVB starting XI that Maassen has named this season.

The match & analysis: Both teams did not give each other an inch in the opening stages. BVB twice threatened from distance through Immanuel Pherai and Berkan Taz, while Mannheim first came close to opening the scoring following a corner, with Stefan Drljaca in the Dortmund goal making a flying save. Directly afterwards, the ball almost ended up in the Mannheim net when Taz struck a free-kick against the post. Only six minutes had been played by this point.

Three minutes later, the home side took advantage of a moment of carelessness in the Dortmund defence to open the scoring. Dominik Martinovic played the ball to Marc Schnatterer, who tapped home from close range to make it 1-0. The men from Mannheim had slightly more of the game and almost made it 2-0 via ex BVB player Boyamba (15). But the Black & Yellows also showed courage on the ball and had two attempts from set-pieces via Pherai and Kamara. By the midway point of the first half, BVB had registered more possession. Bradley Fink's effort from distance was kept out by Mannheim goalie Königsmann.

The match subsequently tailed off slightly, with a number of minor fouls disrupting the play. Nonetheless, every passage of play was brimming with intensity, which referee Dr. Kampka arguably encouraged. A chest-high challenge on Abdoulaye Kamara was only met with a yellow card – a punishment that was not entirely consistent with the official's previous decisions. BVB were a goal down at the interval, but it could have been more had Franz Pfanne not cleared off the line to spare the beaten Drljaca's blushes in stoppage time.

Both teams named an unchanged line-up for the second period. There were also no tactical changes made by either side. A number of shooting opportunities in the opening minutes saw both sides threaten the opposition goal. The best BVB opportunity during this spell fell to Bradley Fink, who faced goalkeeper Königsmann in a one on one but saw his shot turned behind for a corner-kick. As the hour mark approached, Enrico Maassen made a triple substitution and brought on Tobi Raschl, Justin Njinmah and Ole Pohlmann to inject momentum into the attack.

And those fresh faces really brought the Black & Yellows to life in the final 20 minutes. A move involving Lennard Maloney and Berkan Taz culminated in Ole Pohlmann getting the better of a defender down the left flank and slotting home a deserved leveller at 1-1. Having dominated proceedings in the minutes beforehand, the Black & Yellows deserved their reward for a passionate display away to their fourth-placed opponents.

Moments after the equaliser, the home side were awarded a penalty after Stefan Drljaca had brought down Anton Donkor. Striker Martinovic, however, was unable to beat the Dortmund goalkeeper, with Drljaca going the right way and parrying the ball on to the post. This completely crazy encounter still had one final twist left. In the 90th minute, Immanuel Pherai spotted goalkeeper Königsmann a long way off his line and beat the goalkeeper with a lob from over 30 metres to make it 2-1. Tobi Raschl then put the game to bed by converting a penalty kick to make it 3-1 in injury time. The three points in the opening game of the year lifted BVB into seventh place in the 3. Liga.

BVB U23s: Drljaca – Maloney, Taz (Tattermusch, 75), Papadopoulos, Finnsson, Viet (Pohlmann, 59), Pfanne ©, Pherai, Kamara (Raschl, 59), Knauff (Bah-Traore, 80), Fink (Njinmah, 59)

Goals: 1-0 Schnatterer (9), 1-1 Pohlmann (74), 1-2 Pherai (90), 1-3 Raschl (pen., 90)

Notable incidents: Drljaca saves penalty from Martinovic (79)

Outlook: The SC Freiburg U23s will travel to Dortmund this Friday. Kick-off at Stadion Rote Erde will be at 19:00 CET.