Bayer 04 Women win 3-0 at Werder Bremen

Head coach Achim Feifel made one change to his starting line-up after the 3-1 win at Leipzig: Sylwia Matysik started in place of Henrike Sahlmann who dropped down to the bench.

The Black and Reds were on the front foot from the kick-off and they endeavoured to get forward straight away. The first decent chance on goal came on seven minutes: Milena Nikolić broke through after a mistake in a Bremen build-up and ended up in a one-on-one with Anneke Borbe but the Werder keeper pulled off a great save.

Borbe first, then helpless

The goalkeeper was centre stage again seconds later as Leverkusen came within a hair’s breadth of taking the lead from the ensuing corner: Melissa Friedrich hit a volley at the far post but Borbe was in the right spot to make a sensational reflex save.

The Bremen keeper was beaten minutes later: Dora Zeller picked out Verena Werder with a great pass, she broke into the box and played the ball to Irina Pando. The Swiss only had to stick out a foot – 1-0 to Bayer 04 and also the first Bundesliga goal for Pando.

Wieder again and again

In response, Werder were livelier as they pushed for an equaliser. The Feifel team succeeded in keeping the opposition away from their own penalty area and succeeded in maintaining the narrow lead at half-time.

The Black and Reds needed time to get going again up front after the restart – and it was Verena Wieder who scored again for Bayer 04: From a long ball, the captain first took a sidestep and then hit a shot across Borbe into the bottom left corner – 2-0 (62’). It was the third goal in succession for Wieder after netting against Potsdam and Leipzig.

Pando seals victory

Bremen endeavoured to pull a goal back but were kept out several times by the impressive Anna Klink in the Bayer 04 goal – who could also rely on her teammates up front as Pando sealed victory for Leverkusen with ten minutes to play: From a Zeller corner, the 26-year-old remained calm in a melee and put the ball in the back of the net – 3-0 (80’).

Wieder: "we went into the game with a good plan"

“Werder played well. We went into the game with a good plan and were very aggressive,” said Verena Wieder about the away win before adding: “We created goalscoring opportunities and also took them. I’m incredibly happy.”

The Bayer 04 Women are back in action on Friday, 8 October, in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga. Feifel’s team play SC Sand. The match at Ulrich Haberland Stadium kicks off at 19.15 CEST.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Klink – Matysik, Friedrich, Wirtz, Siems (Zdebel 83’) – Wieder (Bücher 74’), Kögel (Marti 46’), Gräwe (Sahlmann 83’) – Zeller (Arafoui 83’) – Pando, Nikolic.
Werder Bremen: Borbe – Timmermann, Ulbrich, Hausicke, Toth – Walkling (Meyer 64’), Dieckmann, Gidion – Wichmann, Sehan (Weiß 83’), Lührßen (Sternad 55’).
Goals: 0-1 Pando (17’), 0-2 Wieder (62’), 0-3 Pando (80’)
Booked: Ulbrich, Gidion – Wieder
Referee: Mirka Derlin (Bad Schwartau)