German Regionalliga West match report: Borussia Dortmund II 3-3 Schalke II

Dortmund II let three-goal lead slip in dramatic derby

Schalke rallied from a three-goal deficit in the first half to dramatically salvage a point against Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby.

Marouane Balouk 93rd minute penalty rescued a draw for Schalke, who trailed 3-0 after 35 minutes.

▶ Das Comeback im #Revierderby! 💪

3:1 #Schuler (38.)
3:2 #Balouk (58.)
3:3 #Balouk (90.+2/HE)#U23 | #S04 | #schmiede pic.twitter.com/CbLffvnAsX

— Knappenschmiede (@knappenschmiede) April 24, 2021

First half

BVB opened the scoring in the eighth minute after Dominik Wanner seized on a short back-pass by Joselpho Barnes and chased the Schalke goalkeeper down. Sören Ahlers’ kick rebounded off Wanner and went into the back of the net.

The visitors were on the back foot but did have a major chance to equalise when Jan Luca Schuler got in behind the Dortmund backline but his shot was saved well by goalkeeper Luca Unbehaun.

Dortmund were then presented with another gift as Niklas Dams was barged over in the box by Blendi Idrizi when going away from goal. Tobias Raschl made no mistake from the spot to make it 2–0 after 30 minutes.

Five minutes later, the game looked wrapped up as the Black and Yellows added a third. A corner was not clear and the ball sat up invitingly for Albin Thaqi to lash home.

Schalke did not capitulate and gave themselves a fighting chance of a comeback when Schuler ran onto a long ball after a defensive mistake and rounded Unbehaun to score in the 38th minute.

Second half

Schalke started to believe when Brooklyn Kevin Ezeh’s pull-back was turned in by Marouane Balouk in the 58th minute – with the help of a deflection.

BVB had chances to kill the game on the counter attack, which was duly punished.  A corner was swung into the box, the ball was punched away by Unbehaun, but only for Raschl to control the ball with his hand as he attempted to clear.

The referee pointed to the spot and Balouk stepped up. His spotkick was hit with just enough power and height as Unbehaun got a hand to the shot but couldn’t keep it out.

What it means

Enrico Maasen’s side suffered ultimate heartache against their bitter rivals, but they’re still on track for promotion. Their lead was cut to seven points as RW Essen won 4-1 against Homberg. They also have a game in hand on Dortmund.