Borussia Dortmund won the regional duel against VfL Bochum 3:1. Three-pointer Niclas Füllkrug feels “very good” about the next BVB win.

VfL Bochum kept the regional duel at Borussia Dortmund open until the final stages. In the end, the underdogs were unable to secure a point in the neighboring city. BVB prevailed against VfL with a 3:1 victory.

Niclas Füllkrug scored all three Dortmund goals. “We often lacked consistency in the first half of the season. Now it’s very good to get the results,” said the international striker afterwards on DAZN after the third win in the third game after the winter break. “We scored three goals again and only conceded one, even if we would have liked to have played to nil. That gives us confidence.”

Füllkrug had given BVB an early lead with a converted penalty (7th) and ensured the decision in the same way in the final minute. “It’s difficult to survive here when you concede a penalty so early and then another one at the back,” said Bochum midfielder Patrick Osterhage. “We didn’t play badly and put up a good fight. Despite going behind early, we stuck to our game.”

And VfL were rewarded for that shortly before the half-time whistle. BVB defender Nico Schlotterbeck slid a cross from Osterhage into his own goal. The score remained 1:1 until the 72nd minute, when Füllkrug headed the hosts into the lead

VfL also had their moments, even sniffing the lead here and there. “We made some poor decisions with the final pass,” Osterhage complained. Matus Bero provided an example of this. The Bochum player ran free towards goal and only had to cross to Christopher Antwi-Adjei, who was running with him – but he needed too much time and was stopped in time.

“If we had stayed a bit calmer and made it 2:1, it would have been a really great away game,” said Kevin Stöger. Despite the defeat, the Bochum man praised his team for “winning a lot of good balls” in defense. At the same time, Stöger put his finger in the wound: “It’s extremely important that we score more goals.”

In the three games after the winter break, VfL only scored three times. Against Bremen (1:1) and Stuttgart (1:0), that was enough to secure points. Not at BVB, however