Women lose 6-0 against TSG Hoffenheim

Leverkusen were able to cope with the tempo of the TSG Women in the first half. They were compact in defence and gave away few chances on goal. The Werkself Women even had the chance to take the lead after a quarter of an hour with a massive opportunity for Henrietta Csiszár who hit a hard shot at the target from a Kristin Kögel pass – the TSG goalkeeper Lena Lattwein just managed to keep the ball out with her foot. Instead, the opening goal came from the hosts on 24 minutes: After gaining possession, Hoffenheim broke clear in a flash and Jule Brand was able to lob the ball over Anna Klink into the net. Kögel had the chance to level before the break. Unmarked in front of goal, she hit her shot straight at Lattwein from 14 yards out. The Werkself were 1-0 down at half-time.

“The first half was ok. The opposition did break through on the wings two or three times but we managed to keep them out. We kept it relatively open in the first half although Hoffenheim were better than us,” Feifel said about the 45 minutes.

Billa nets three – Vinken unlucky twice

TSG continued to dominate proceedings after the restart. Hoffenheim made the most of Leverkusen losing the ball and clinically exploited counter-attacks via their fast wingers. Nicole Billa increased the deficit for the Werkself Women to 2-0 (53’) and 3-0 (54’) within a minute. The Bayer 04 Women were unable to defend passes between the lines on both occasions.

Hoffenheim were again on the attack a few minutes later. Ann-Kathrin Vinken beat Billa to the ball from a pass from Tabea Waßmuth but only succeeded in turning the ball into her own net – 4-0 (62’). And in the next attempt to make a clearance, when Katharina Naschenweng hit a hard cross into the box, Vinken stuck her foot out and again put the ball into her own net to make it 5-0 (71’). “You can’t blame Ann-Kathrin. The passes came just in front of our goal and she tried to clear them. She had an opponent waiting behind her ready to shoot,” Feifel explained.

Feifel endeavoured to change the scoreline by bringing on fresh legs in the shape of Gianna Rackow, Verena Wieder, Frederike Kempe and winter signing Mina Tanaka, who made her debut in Black and Red, but the change in fortune did not materialise. Instead, Billa scored again to make it 6-0 with five minutes to play. Dóra Zeller had the chance to score a consolation goal in the final minute but her effort went wide of the target.

“We didn’t stand a chance in transition play and foot races at the last line of the defence and we managed to cause our own downfall. Overall, we were inferior to Hoffenheim in every respect today and we have to recognise that,” said the Leverkusen head coach after the game.

Bayer 04 remain fifth in the table on 20 points but they could be caught by Eintracht Frankfurt (17 points and a better goal difference), whose game against MSV Duisburg was postponed due to the pitch being unplayable. The Werkself Women are back in action next Sunday, 14 February (14.00 CET) at MSV Duisburg. 

Match stats:
TSG Hoffenheim: Tufekovic - Rall (Fühner 77’), Bühler, Specht, Naschenweng - Dongus (70’) - Waßmuth (Beuschlein 77’), Lattwein, Hartig (Harsch 70’), Brand (Steinert 77’) - Billa
Bayer 04: Klink - Sahlman (Rackow 65’), Turanyi, Vinken, Kerschowski (Kempe 72’) - Matysik, Wirtz (Wieder 65’) - Zeller, Kögel (Tanaka 81’), Csiszar - Nikolic (Marti 65’)
Goals: 1-0 Brand (24’), 2-0 Billa (53’), 3-0 Billa (54’), 4-0 Vinken (62’ o.g.), 5-0 Vinken (71’ o.g.), 6-0 Billa (85’)
Booked: - / -
Referee: Karoline Wacker (Marbach am Neckar)