Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen: Debut goal for Justin Lerma as BVB start pre-season

Borussia Dortmund secured a comeback victory in their first pre-season test against Regionalliga West side Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. The fourth-tier outfit took an early lead after they intercepted Alexander Meyer’s clearance, but Niko Kovac’s side came from behind to win 3-1.

On his BVB debut, Ecuadorian midfielder Justin Lerma scored the equalizer just before half-time after the initial effort by the US youth international Mathis Albert was ricocheted in his direction. The Croat coach used a completely different team in the second-half as Frenchman Joane Gadou made his first appearance.

Serhou Guirassy put Dortmund ahead for the first time ten minutes into the restart with usual aplomb before Takato Yamamoto sealed the victory after combining well with the 16-year-old Marawan Omir Mirza. The Japanese midfielder is a new signing for Dortmund’s youth team on a one-year loan deal from Gamba Osaka.

With 11 Dortmund players featured at the World Cup, the Yellow and Blacks had to start pre-season with several players from the youth team. Jobe Bellingham and Fabio Silva played the first 45 minutes, while the Italian trio – Filippo Mane, Luca Reggiani and Samuele Inacio – were also present.

The Brazilian Yan Couto, who is expected to leave the club this summer, played the first-half as Dortmund used players from 14 different countries in total. BVB’s next stop will be in Japan, where they will play against Cerezo Osaka and FC Tokyo.

They will then participate in the Emirates Cup, with games against Arsenal and AS Roma ahead of German football’s curtain-raiser: the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against FC Bayern.