2-0 against Sand - Werkself Women extend run

A victory and a clean sheet, the winning run extended and up to second place for the time being – coach Achim Feifel could be happy with the Friday night performance. But the Werkself Women's coach wants the players to keep their feet on the ground: "Yes, we were in charge of the game for large stretches. But we've got a lot of work to do after losing control in the closing stages despite having a player extra."

One thing at a time: After three wins on the bounce, the Bayer 04 team looked confident at the start of the game against Sand at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The hosts, with Lara Marti being the only change to the starting line-up from the 3-0 win at Werder Bremen, were on the front foot early on as they sought a way through to the SC goal.

lightning reaction from Nikolic 

Sylwia Matysik had the first attempt on goal after five minutes. But the effort from 25 yards out went over the bar. The Feifel team kept up the pressure and were soon rewarded. From a Matysik cross from the right, the ball bounced down in front of Milena Nikolic. She produced a lightning reaction on the penalty spot and slotted the ball into the left corner to make it 1-0 on 15 minutes.

Leverkusen remained on top up to the half-time break and could have increased their lead but Dora Zeller missed after a long clearance from Anna Klink with a shot from outside the penalty area the best chance before the break (42').

Red card for SC SAnD

The hosts pressed forward from the start of the second half in the direction of the opposition goal. Nikolic would have been clean through from a long ball but the last Sand defender Marina Georgieva pulled her down. Professional foul. Red card (49'). Bayer 04 initially made the most of having the extra player. Above all Verena Wieder, with goals in the last three games, stood out on the left flank.

After a great solo run from the wing into the centre, Wieder hit the outside of the left post (61'). Shortly after that, the 21-year-old again broke through into the penalty area from the left wing and was fouled. Kristin Kögel stepped up to slot the penalty into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0 (66'). Wieder set Kögel up from the wing but the SC keeper Jasmine Pal turned her shot onto the bar (79').

impressive start to campaign

Sand refused to give up even with ten players and the Werkself Women somewhat lost control. "We were too impatient, and we should have aimed to have more possession," admitted coach Feifel: "It shouldn't have been like that." But that did not have an effect on the deserved fourth win of the season in the fifth game. Twelve points and, at least until Sunday night, second place behind FC Bayern is impressive.

"Nobody can take the points away from us that we’ve picked up so far," said Feifel after the game. Matchday six sees the Bayer 04 Women travel to SC Freiburg (Saturday, 16 October, 13.00 CEST).

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Klink – Matysik (Gräwe 59'), Friedrich, Wirtz, Siems – Wieder, Kögel, Marti (Sahlmann 87’) – Zeller (Arfaoui 59’) – Pando (Zdebel 74’), Nikolic
Sand: Pal – Bruce, Bruinenberg (Gravat 85’), Georgieva, Kreil (Del Carmen 65’), Brandenburg, Gentile, Evels (Browne 85’), Triendl (Loos 65’), Plasmann (Hoppius 71’), Jordan
Goals: 1-0 Nikolic (15’), 2-0 Kögel (66’ pen.)

Booked: Matysik

Sent off: Georgieva (49’/professional foul)

Referee: Vanessa Arlt (Münster)

Attendance: 306