"We richly deserved to win the game today and we were clinical in converting our chances," said Roberto Pätzold: "We gave almost nothing away on the pitch and we achieved that by working together for the whole of the game. We are happy to return to league action in a positive mood with today's win after the international break."
After last week's planned friendly against AZ Alkmaar was called off late on due to the weather in Goch, head coach Pätzold made six changes to his starting XI compared with the last league game at TSG Hoffenheim. Eleven Bayer 04 Women have been away on international duty in recent days so that four players were brought into squad from the U20 and U17 teams. Loreen Bender, who was sidelined at the end of last year after a tonsils operation, clocked up her first minutes on the pitch in 2025 playing in attacking midfield.
The Werkself got off to a flying start in cool temperatures on Carnival Thursday. Caroline Kehrer put the Werkself ahead after just eight minutes. A well-hit shot from the edge of the penalty area found the bottom right corner of the net leaving the SGS keeper Sindermann with no chance of making a save – an impressive opening goal.
The Werkself maintained their superiority on the pitch in the following minutes of the first half. And the second goal followed as a consequence: From the left wing, Janou Levels cut in unchallenged and she shot from 15 metres out with the Netherlands international firing the ball into the top right corner – the next brilliant goal. Bayer 04 took a deserved lead over their Bundesliga rivals into half-time.
Leverkusen made two substitutions for the start of the second half: Ida Daedelow came on for the Germany U23 international Sofie Zdebel, Kristin Kögel replaced Juliette Vidal. Compared with the first half, the second 45 were more balanced with Essen creating actions in the Leverkusen half. Captain Friederike Repohl and the defence in front of her did not concede any serious goalscoring opportunities. For the Black and Reds, Shen Menglu (72’) with a header and a long-range effort from substitute Ruby Grant (88') were two decent chances but neither found the target. The scoreline remained 2-0.
Following the international break, fourth-placed Leverkusen play promoted team FC Carl Zeiss Jena on Matchday 16 in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. The match at the ad hoc arena on the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld is on Sunday 9 March (kick-off: 18:30 CET). A week later, on 16 March, the Bayer 04 Women entertain Werder Bremen with the kick-off at 14:00 CET. Tickets for the match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium are available online here.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Repohl – Skinnes Hansen (Lindner 79'), Bragstad, Friedrich (Frank 79'), Levels (Mickenhagen 63') – Daedelow, Vidal (Grant 63') – Kögel, Menglu (Martens 79') – Bartz (Lillemets 63'), Kehrer
SGS Essen: Sindermann – Terlinden, Flach, Fürst, Maier, Kowalski, Elmazi, Pucks, Meißner, Sterner, Pfluger
Goals: 1-0 Kehrer (8’), 2-0 Levels (25’)
Referee: Daniela Nohl (Menden)
Attendance: 60 at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre
Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
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Special events for a special match: Bayer 04 are offering fans a varied programme of events at tonight’s home game in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga against German champions Bayern Munich (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Alongside a number of interactive activities, events to mark the DFB Sustainability matchday are also planned around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Read on in the matchday news ahead of the clash with FC Bayern.
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Following two close encounters against VfL Wolfsburg and away to TSG Hoffenheim, the Bayer 04 Women face another top side on Monday night. The Werkself host German double winners Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 18:00 CEST to round off matchday 4 in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is counting on another spirited performance from his team.
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30 shots on goal, 14 corners, 63 per cent possession: Bayer 04 clearly had the upper hand in their clash with league leaders FC Augsburg, but squandered the chance of a second win in three games due to a few minutes after the restart, “when we stopped playing football”, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes said after the game. The Werkself review of the 2–2 draw at FC Augsburg.
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