4-0 against Zwolle: Women win big in friendly during international break

"It was a very successful friendly at all levels for us. We produced a dominant performance and scored great goals. The young players integrated very well and did a lot of what we wanted to see. That makes us very positive looking into the future," said Pätzold: "All those not away with their national teams, or who have not played much recently or returned from injury played in the game. I didn't see any break in the way we wanted to play football. Regardless of who was on the pitch."

Without eleven of the professional players, who are currently away on international duty, Pätzold called up eight youth players from the U20 team to strengthen the squad. They were Sina Frank, Sena Fukumoto, Chiara Kaiser, Jana Lindner, Amelie Moll, Paula Schwartze and Amy Wrigge. Moll and Schwartze plus triallist Kirkeliis Lillemets (Tartu JK Tammeka/Estonia) were in the starting XI.

Bender nets brace

Against the team lying tenth in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, the Leverkusen Women made a lively start to the match in Siebengewald on the German-Netherlands border, but there were no clear-cut chances early on. The first effort from Kehrer with a header from a free kick taken by the skipper Janou Levels posed no danger but the Black and Reds took the lead a minute later. Schwartze put Bender through down the right wing, and she steered the ball past the PEC keeper Tess van der Flier to open the scoring on 12 minutes. The midfielder netted a brace six minutes later: From another cross from Schwartze, Kehrer laid the ball off in the six-yard box and Bender slotted the ball into the right corner of the net.

The dominant Leverkusen team were keen for more: Triallist Lillemets was denied in a one-on-one with van der Flier who made an impressive save her foot (21'). The Bayer 04 Women kept it tight in defence with Zwolle only threatening Charlotte Voll’s goal from set-pieces. Just before half-time, first Kehrer missed the chance to make it 3-0 but the ensuing corner taken by Levels was headed home by Turanyi (45’).

Kehrer scored her goal five minutes after the restart. From a through ball from Levels, the striker curled the ball into the far corner to make it 4-1. The Bundesliga team kept up the pressure with early pressing and the Dutch players were hardly able to get out of their own half. The Werkself created chance after chance, particularly down the left flank, but the final ball often went astray. With ten minutes to play, Turanyi missed the chance of a second goal with a powerful shot and substitute Lindner also had the opportunity to make it 5-0. As Zwolle gave nothing away in the closing stages the final score was 4-0.

outlook: Bundesliga top match against Wolfsburg

The international break is followed by the end of the Hinrunde for the Bayer 04 Women in a top match. On Matchday 11 in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Werkself entertain league leaders VfL Wolfsburg at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Friday, 6 December (kick-off: 18.00 CET). Tickets for the match are available HERE  from the Bayer 04 online ticket shop.

Match stats:

Starting XI PEC Zwolle: van der Flier - van der Linden, Davelaar, Lindner, Dijsselhof - te Wierik, van de Velde - Kroezen - Walk, Schilder - Hilhorst

Bayer 04: Voll (Moll 46') - Schwartze (Pfeiffer 67'), Turanyi, Friedrich (Frank 60'), Levels - Amelie Moll (Fukumoto 67'), Vidal - Bender (Lindner 60'), Menglu - Lillemets (Wrigge 67’), Kehrer

Goals: 0-1 Bender (12’), 0-2 Bender (18’), 0-3 Turanyi (45’), 0-4 Kehrer (50’)

Attendance: 30 at the Sportpark 't Eindpunt in Siebengewald