3-2 away to Anderlecht: Women win third straight friendly

"We played really well for 60 minutes, had a lot of chances and should have taken a much bigger lead. Then the game became a lot more even, we lost our grip and no longer had good risk management in possession. That gave our opponents far more opportunities," said Pätzold: "In the end, we can be happy to have won. I'm glad we showed morale and fought against conceding a third goal. The bottom line is that we have to finish the game with even more confidence."
The coach made five changes to his starting line-up compared to the 5-1 win at Sosnowiec. Selina Ostermeier, Janou Levels, Juliette Vidal, Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir and Cornelia Kramer started instead of Emilie Bragstad, Julia Mickenhagen, Katharina Piljić, Kristin Kögel and Estrella Merino Gonzalez. Frenchwoman Vidal came to Leverkusen from Anderlecht in the summer.

dominant in first third of game

The visitors attacked right from the start. Kramer had the first chance to shoot after a slick combination (7'). Leverkusen, wearing their new white away jerseys for the first time, repeatedly tried to play through their opponents' defence with long balls. When they succeeded in doing so, they usually created direct danger, especially down the wings. One of these combinations led to the first goal of the day: After a long ball from the right, Kramer played a pinpoint pass to her partner Kehrer in the centre, who slotted home with ease (15').
Defensively, the Werkself kept it tight and skilfully waited for counter-attacks. Ostermeier missed the next opportunity with a header from a Janou Levels free-kick (23'). She did better shortly afterwards as provider: the centre-back sent Bender on her way with a precise volley across half the pitch. The 18-year-old deftly lifted the ball over keeper Aude Waldbillig and into the net (27'). The Bundesliga side almost made it 3-0 with their last action before the first break, but Kramer's shot narrowly missed the left post and was just out of reach of the sliding Levels (35).

After the first break, things were calmer for a few minutes. Bayer 04 managed their lead without any discomfort - and finally added to it. After an defence-splitting pass from substitute Piljić, the ball landed via Levels at the feet of Kehrer, who scored her second goal with ice-cold precision (53').
The hosts then stepped up a little and were rewarded with their first goal. Luna Vanzeir won a challenge and lifted the ball over captain Friederike Repohl from close range to make it 3-1 (62'). The teams went into the second short break separated again by two goals.

Anderlecht strike back

Pätzold made six more changes for the final third of the match. Both sides again began the period cautiously, although the visitors' superiority remained, although substitute goalkeeper Anne Moll made a sharp reflex save from a direct shot by Tine De Caigny from inside the penalty area (83').
A little later, the 19-year-old failed to clear a corner decisively and De Caigny was on hand to reduce the deficit (89'). In the final quarter of an hour, Leverkusen defended their lead with great determination and skill. The result was a narrow 3-2 away win.

Two more friendlies

After another week of training, the Werkself play another friendly match of 2 x 60 minutes at Standard Liège on Saturday, 17 August (kick-off: 2.30 pm). A final 4 x 30-minute endurance test against Fortuna Sittard follows on Friday, 23 August (kick-off: 2 p.m.) at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. One week later, Bayer 04 women kick off the new Bundesliga season on 31 August (kick-off: 2 p.m.) with a trip to SC Freiburg. Another week later on 7/8 August, the Werkself will play in the second round of the DFB Cup; the opponents have not yet been announced. The complete summer schedule with all dates for the women's team can be found HERE!

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl (71. Moll) - Skinnes Hansen (54. Shen), Ostermeier (36. Bragstad), Turányi (71. Ostermeier), Levels (71. Mickenhagen) - Zdebel (36. Piljić), Vidal (71. Zdebel) - Vilhjálmsdóttir (71. Merino Gonzalez), Bender (54. Haim/93. Turányi) - Kehrer (71. Kögel), Kramer (54. Boboy)

RSC Anderlecht starting line-up: Waldbillig - Deloose, De Caigny, Koeleman, Ijzerman, Matavkova, Vatafu, Minnaert, Vanzeir, Delabre, Wijnants

Goals: 0-1 Kehrer (15.), 0-2 Bender (27.), 0-3 Kramer (53.), 1-3 Vanzeir (62.), 2-3 De Caigny (89.)

Schiedsrichter: Emile Herpoel

Match played behind closed doors.