Coach Achim Feifel did not make any changes to the side that earned a decent 2-2 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt. He fielded the same starting eleven from last Wednesday’s game.
It was hard going at first. “We played far too many misplaced passes going forwards. And covering back didn’t work properly. We lacked being compact,” was the critique of coach Feifel.
However, the visitors from Bremen were unable to exploit the situation. Promising attacking opportunities were far too hurried. There were a lot of long-range efforts, which mostly missed the target. And when it did look dangerous in front of the Leverkusen goal, keeper Anna Klink was in the right spot – as on four, seven, 12 and 20 minutes.
Against that background it was something of a surprise that the hosts took the lead on 35 minutes. The captain Jessica Wich was twice denied by the Bremen goalkeeper Lena Pauels but the third attempt found its way into the back of the net – 1-0 for the hosts who could have gone further ahead just before half-time. But a dipping shot from Wich landed on top of the bar.
“During half-time, we decided to play a calmer and more controlled game after the restart,” said Feifel after the end of the match. “We succeeded in that. We were able to regain control of the game by switching play diagonally.”
That was rewarded on 64 minutes: A long corner from the Bayer 04 Women was first cleared but the second ball ended up at the feet of Isabel Kerschowski and her shot was deflected into the far corner to make it 2-0. Dora Zeller hit the bar a minute later.
The strike to make it 3-0 was netted by Milena Nikolic. The attacker was waiting at the far post from a free kick and was able to put a header into the opposition net – her fourth goal of the season. The visitors had the last threatening move of the game. Substitute Katharina Schiechtl tried her luck from 35 yards out but the shot hit the bar.
The match ended in a 3-0 victory that sees the Feifel team move up to fifth place in the table. The next match action is on Sunday 18 October when Bayer 04 are away to SGS Essen.
“In the first half, you could see with every player that Wednesday’s game in Frankfurt had sapped their strength. Both physically and mentally. We were lucky that Bremen were unable to exploit the situation,” was the assessment of Achim Feifel. “We were livelier after half-time. We once again gave everything we could with lots of passion. That enabled us to regain control of the game.”
Bayer 04: Klink - I. Kerschowski (Reger 87’), Turanyi, Friedrich (Pinther 46’), Marti - Wirtz, Zeller, Csiszar, Wich (Vinken), Rudelic (Brüggemann 46’) - Nikolic (Rackow 83’)
Werder Bremen: Pauels - Timmermann, Hausicke, Ulbrich , Lührßen - Volkmer (Schiechtl 75’), Gidion , Wichmann (Goddard 66’), Radosavljevic (Keles 46’) - Sehan (Walkling 27’), Tarczynska (Toth 75’)
Goals: 1-0 Wich (34’), 2-0 Kerschowski (63’), 3-0 Nikolic (78’)
Booked: Gideon
Referee: Sina Diekmann (Göttingen)
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