Women miss chances in 2-0 defeat at Potsdam

The Black and Reds made a bright start to the game in front of over 750 spectators and they had the upper hand in the first 20 minutes. The Bayer 04 attack produced some good moves and created numerous chances at minute intervals. Lilla Turanyi had the first chance to open the scoring with a header from a corner. Milena Nikolic had a shot in the penalty area on four minutes – but her effort was blocked. Shortly after that, Viktoria Pinther aimed for the far post but failed to find the target.

Instead, out of the blue, Potsdam with the former Bayer 04 captain Merle Barth found their way through: A diagonal ball found the Bayer 04 defence too far up field and Dina Orschmann shot straight away and the perfect strike ended up in the back of the net at the far post. Henrietta Csiszár tried to respond four minutes later but the ball flew just wide of the goal. The Bayer 04 Women had more of the game after conceding. Hardly had the Werkself sorted themselves out than they had to take the next blow seconds before half-time as former Bayer 04 player Nina Ehegötz unmarked from a corner was able to head in the second goal (45+1’).

“We started really well, had good chances and we were in the game. We just lacked efficiency in the crucial stage of the game,” was the assessment of Bayer 04 head coach Achim Feifel.

Lack of power

Leverkusen gave their all in the second half and were aggressive in trying to break into the opposition half. Potsdam waited to play on the break and were well organised at the back making life difficult for the Werkself Women. On 50 minutes, Csiszár was fouled in the box – but referee Susann Kunkel did not award the spot-kick. Nikolic failed to take several good chances; Jessica Wich’s shot from outside the penalty area lacked power.

“As a team we were able to compensate for the absence of a lot of players like Nina Brüggemann, Ivana Rudelic and Ann-Kathrin Vinken. At the same time, we were less efficient and perhaps indecisive in one or two situations,” said Feifel after the game.

The Bayer 04 Women have dropped down to fifth in the table. Leverkusen face the next major challenge on Sunday, 4 October (14.00 CEST): The reigning champions VfL Wolfsburg are the visitors next week.

Match stats:
Turbine Potsdam: Fischer – Elsig, Nally, Mesjasz – Orschmann (Kössler 54’), Graf, Barth, Plattner, Höbinger (Schmidt 54’) – Ehegötz (Weidauer 76’), Cerci (Chmielinski 54’)
Bayer 04: Klink – Kerschowski, Wirtz, Turanyi, Jessen – Wich (Bücher 75’), Csizár (Rackow 58’), Kögel (Zeller 58’), Matysik – Nikolic, Pinther (Friedrich 58’)
Goals: 1-0 Orschmann (23’), 2-0 Ehegötz (45+1’)
Booked: Elsig, Fischer / Turanyi, Kerschowski, Wich, Nikolic
Referee: Susann Kunkel (Hamburg)
Attendance: 752