2-0 against Essen: Women beat league rivals in friendly

"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."

Bender Returns

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.

Kehrer Scores early, Levels Doubles lead

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.

Outlook: Next league game against Jena

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