"At the end of a run of fixtures where we hardly got a breather, it was very important and great for us to go through the first round of the Pokal so convincingly today. My compliments to the team for this calm performance," said Pätzold: "The early goals gave us confidence against an opponent who left us little space. After the fourth we got the game over the line in a very controlled manner." After the two wins against FC Nürnberg (1-0) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2-1), his overall assessment was also positive: "That was a great and successful week. We're really looking forward to the next round, because we have big plans for the Pokal this season," said Pätzold. "Now we have two days off to recover as best we can and then there’s a great derby week ahead of us."
After starting the same eleven three times in a row, the coach made a total of six changes for the Pokal tie: Charlotte Voll, Julia Mickenhagen, Juliette Vidal, Loreen Bender, Vanessa Haim and Caroline Kehrer replaced captain Friederike Repohl, Estrella Merino Gonzalez, Lilla Turanyi, Katharina Piljic, Vanessa Fudalla and Valentina Mädl in the starting line-up. A total of eight players did not make the trip to Saarland due to illness or injury: Instead, 17-year-old Amy Wrigge was part of the first team squad for the first time ever in a competitive match following her muscle injury, while Jana Lindner and Sana Coskun from the club's U23s were also in the squad, as they were in the 2-1 Bundesliga win against Eintracht Frankfurt.
„Am Ende einer Englischen Woche, in der wir kaum Kräfte schonen konnten, war es sehr wichtig und schön, dass wir die 1. Pokal-Runde heute so souverän über die Bühne gebracht haben. Kompliment an die Mannschaft für diese abgeklärte Leistung“, sagte Pätzold: „Die frühen Tore haben uns Sicherheit gegeben gegen einen Gegner, der uns wenig Räume gelassen hat. Nach dem 4:0 haben wir das Spiel sehr kontrolliert über die Bühne gebracht.“ Nach den beiden Siegen beim 1. FC Nürnberg (1-0) und gegen Eintracht Frankfurt (2-1) fiel auch sein Gesamt-Fazit rundum positiv aus: „Das war eine tolle, erfolgreiche Woche. Wir freuen uns sehr auf die nächste Runde, denn wir haben uns in dieser Saison viel im Pokal vorgenommen“, so Pätzold. „Jetzt haben jetzt zwei Tage frei, um uns bestmöglich zu erholen, und dann eine tolle Derby-Woche vor uns.“
After a cautious opening phase, Bender tested the SVE goalkeeper Kanasa Takeshita from distance for the first time (13'). The subsequent corner gave them the lead: Kristin Kögel found Vidal, who scored her first competitive goal for Bayer 04 with a header (14’). The visitors increased their lead five minutes later after a cross from Mickenhagen: Centre-back Emilia Wittling turned the ball into her own net as she attempted to clear the ball. Shortly after that, the Werkself added another: A cross from Carlotta Wamser was laid off by Bender to Kögel, who slotted home with ease to make it 3-0 (24'). Another five minutes later, a free-kick from Sofie Zdebel found the head of Bender - 4-0. By the break, Bayer 04, playing in their blue third kit, had chances to increase their lead even further, but the four-goal advantage remained for the time being.
Pätzold brought on Katharina Piljic for Ruby Grant at the break with Fudalla replacing fellow striker Kehrer shortly after the restart. The Bayer 04 Women slowed down the pace of the game a little during this phase, and there were no further big chances for the time being. The coach also took Wamser off the pitch half an hour before the end, with Paula Schwartze making her competitive debut in her place and Paulina Bartz replacing the goalscorer Bender. Both teams increasingly came to terms with the result, with Leverkusen restricting themselves to a few isolated forays forward. Wrigge also made her competitive debut in the closing stages, replacing Haim (80'). Nine minutes later, Piljic was brought down in the penalty area and Mickenhagen converted the resulting spot kick to make it 5-0 (90') - securing a place in the last 16.
The Round of 16 draw will be held in one week's time on Sunday, 5 October, from 16:30 CEST on the Sky programme ‘Skylights: The #SkySportShow’. On the same day, the Werkself will play the derby in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. The Black and Reds face FC Köln at the Franz Kremer Stadium (18:30 CEST/live on MagentaSport and DAZN). Away tickets are available HERE from the FC Köln online shop. Block H and the away standing area are available for Leverkusen fans.
Match stats:
SV 07 Elversberg: Takeshita - Walker (Pilger 86’), Cochlovius Quintanero, Whitman, Wittling, Grünnagel - Andres (Teixera Lavinas 73’), Klein (Wagner 59’), Schmit, Keller (Reardon 73’) - Engel (Kirps 59’)
Bayer 04: Voll - Wamser (Schwartze 63’), Wenger, Vidal, Mickenhagen - Zdebel, Grant (Piljic 46’) - Bender (Bartz 63’), Kögel - Haim (Wrigge 80’), Kehrer (Fudalla 51’)
Goalscorers: 0-1 Vidal (14'), 0-2 Wittling (19', o.g.), 0-3 Kögel (24'), 0-4 Bender (29'), 0-5 Mickenhagen (90', pen.)
Yellow cards: none
Referee: Naemi Breier (Zerf)
Attendance: 521 at the Waldstadion Betzental
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