Bayer Leverkusen narrowly won the top match of matchday 21 in the A-Junior Bundesliga West against Schalke 04. Borussia Dortmund beat VfL Bochum.

After the Easter break, the A-Junior Bundesliga West enters the home straight. And the 21st matchday had a real top match to offer.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen hosted FC Schalke 04 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, with second-placed Schalke visiting third-placed Leverkusen in a crucial match in the battle for the runners-up spot and a place in the championship round in May. And here the youngsters from the Bayerkreuz were able to gain a big advantage.

At the beginning, Schalke were quite stable defensively, but lacked penetration in offense. Leverkusen’s first really well-played move, however, was successful: After a one-two pass, Francis Onyeka was free in front of goal from eight meters and netted with the help of the right post (37′). And Bayer went one better before the break, Marton Szep (43) scoring the second goal.

Both teams came out of the break on equal terms, with the efficient Leverkusen side striking first once again: David Widlarz’s spectacular left-footed shot (58′) was supposedly the decider. But Schalke made it exciting again.

First Taylan Bulut converted a penalty for S04 (80′), then Jean Paul Ndiaye nodded in a corner (86′) and suddenly Elgert’s eleven were back in the game. In the end, after five minutes of trembling in stoppage time, the new runners-up from Leverkusen, who have also played one game less than Schalke, won 3:2.

Three BVB goals in eight minutes – Effzeh win derby

VfL Bochum were up against league leaders Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund wanted to make a statement and took an early lead through Almugera Kabar (4th). However, VfL found an answer, with Mohammad Mahmoud (16) making it 1:1 after a counter-attack. But the leaders turned up the heat and Ousmane Diallo (24), William Campbell (27) and Paris Brunner (32) increased the score to 4:1 – a bitter result from Bochum’s point of view at the break.

In the second half, VfL at least managed to make it 2:4 (61′) through Christopher Lenz, and both teams then had chances to score further goals. However, BVB successfully managed their lead and are now 16 points clear in first place.

In the third match of the morning, Viktoria Köln and 1. FC Köln met in the city derby, with the “Effzeh” winning 2:1 thanks to a late goal. At lunchtime, Arminia Bielefeld and Fortuna Düsseldorf drew 1:1, while SC Paderborn beat Wuppertaler SV 8:3.

Alemannia Aachen and SC Verl drew 2-2 on Saturday, while Borussia Mönchengladbach are playing in the Lower Rhine Cup and MSV Duisburg have no game.