“It was a tight game. We had luck on our side at times. We had the game under control for long periods and were calm on the ball. Rike was excellent with the Köln chances,” said de Pauw. “We had the chance for further goals with our counter-attacks. The second goal was one you’d put down for Goal of the Month. I had the feeling before that Krissi would score today. Thanks for the set pieces go to our goalkeeping coach Patrick Bade, who’s been finetuning things since the start of the season.”

De Pauw stuck with the same side that started last weekend’s goalless draw at Freiburg. Both teams sought to size each other up in the opening minutes, with most of the action taking place in midfield. The first chance fell to the visitors, but Friederike Repohl had no trouble saving Celina Degen’s header from a corner. The first Leverkusen attempt came in the 17th minute when captain Elisa Senß tested Paula Hoppe from range. Kögel then tried her luck from the corner of the box but again only found Hoppe in the Köln goal.

Turanyi heads in

The best chance of the opening stages resulted from a corner as centre-back Emilie Bragstad saw her goal-bound header cleared off the line. There was nothing the visiting defence could do shortly after, though, when Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir picked out Turanyi to power home a header. The Hungarian was then alert at the other end shortly afterwards to clear a dangerous cross.

Now in front, Leverkusen started to control the game more and more after half an hour. The women from Cologne looked to counter, with Dora Zeller striking the side netting on one occasion. Synne Skinnes Hansen came agonisingly close to doubling the advantage when played into the box by Vilhjalmsdottir, but the Norwegian put her effort wide of the left post as it remained 1-0 at the break.

After the restart, it was again a corner that threatened to cause issues, but again Repohl was on hand to deny Sara Agrez. Carlotta Wamser then put her rebound into the side netting. Bayer 04 looked to contain the visitors and hit them on the break, but Repohl was once again called into action on the hour mark to claw away a Marleen Schimmer effort that was destined for the top corner.

De Pauw made three changes for the final 30 minutes with the introduction of Caroline Siems, Loreen Bender and Nikola Karczewska for Janou Levels, Skinnes Hansen and Verena Wieder. Karczewska almost made it 2-0 with her first involvement, before Köln went up the other end with Wamser one-on-one with Repohl. The Leverkusen goalkeeper kept her cool, though, to keep her side ahead.

Kögel fires home

Köln started to come out of their shell, which allowed Leverkusen space to counter. Karczewska was through on goal after a long ball but fired just over from the edge of the box. Kögel then showed her teammate how it’s done with a sublime effort beyond Hoppe into the top right corner to finally give the hosts a two-goal cushion. It appeared to boost the whole team, with Vilhjalmsdottir also having a go from range.

Julie Jorde came on for Sofie Zdebel in the closing minutes as Leverkusen shut up shop while waiting for any opportunity for a third. One opportunity came when substitute Siems tried to curl one in but was denied by Hoppe. It finished 2-0 in the end as Bayer 04 celebrated yet another derby victory this season.

Essen before the break

Die Frauen are away at Essen next Sunday (6.30pm CET) for Matchday 17, looking to avenge their recent DFB-Pokal quarter-final defeat. Tickets are available until Friday. Following the cup semi-finals, there’s an international break before league action resumes in mid-April.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Matysik, Bragstad, Turányi - Skinnes Hansen (Bender 61'), Senß, Zdebel (Jorde 84'), Levels (Siems 61') - Vilhjálmsdóttir, Kögel - Wieder (Karczewska 61')

1. FC Köln: Hoppe - Gerhardt, Hechler, Agrez, Wiankowska - Degen, Vogt (Cerci 81') - Wamser (Padilla-Bidas 76'), Wilde, Zeller - Schimmer

Goals: 1-0 Turanyi (23'), 2-0 Kögel (73')

Yellow cards: - / Hechler

Referee: Franziska Wildfeuer

Attendance: 1,160 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion