A thriller without a happy ending: Women exit DFB Pokal in Hamburg

Charlotte Voll, who suffered a shoulder injury  in the 2-1 defeat in Freiburg , was replaced in goal by Anne Moll, who came off the bench in the closing stages last Monday. Otherwise, Pätzold fielded the same line-up. His team started with great commitment and dynamism. A cross from Estrella Merino Gonzalez found Kristin Kögel, whose header lacked power (3’). Two minutes later, the captain tried her luck from distance. The visitors also had the third attempt: Sofie Zdebel failed to beat goalkeeper Larissa Haidner from a corner kick from just outside the box (7').

Mädl comes on for Bender

A short time later, a ball from close range hit Loreen Bender in the face. After a brief break for treatment, the midfielder was able to continue. Meanwhile, HSV made their first attacking move after a corner with a deflected shot from Sophie Hillebrand. Bender then went off injured and was replaced by Valentina Mädl (25').

The game settled midway through the first half, with the Bayer 04 Women rarely managing to convert their possession into promising attacking moves. A long-range effort (35’) from Vanessa Fudalla, currently the top scorer in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga with seven goals, remained the most dangerous action until the break. As both teams failed to create any clear-cut chances, the two sides went into the half-time break level at 0-0.

cautiouS start to second half

There were no substitutions at at half-time. The first promising action after the break came from Katharina Piljic who beat several opponents with a clever through ball to find Kögel. Caroline Kehrer then put a header just wide of the target (54'). At the other end, Lilla Turanyi blocked a shot by the former Leverkusen player Pauline Machtens (56'). Apart from that, the two teams largely cancelled each other out during this phase of the game. Pätzold made a second substitution. Fudalla was replaced by Ruby Grant (64'). The hosts took the lead four minutes later. After gaining possession, Melanie Brunnthaler fed Sophie Hillebrand, who ran onto the ball and lifted it past Moll, who stood no chance of making a save.

brilliant strike by Mickenhagen

The Werkself responded with a contender for goal of the month. From a corner kick, the ball was headed out of the penalty area and it fell to Mickenhagen 25 plus metres out. Her volley flew into the top left-hand corner, only slightly deflected by Haidner. Pätzold then brought on Claudia Wenger and Paulina Bartz for Selina Ostermeier and Zdebel (74’).

Merino Gonzalez misses chance to net winner

In the final stages of the game, the visitors pushed for victory - and missed a double chance to clinch victory in stoppage time. First, Kögel curled her corner onto the crossbar. Seconds later, a shot from Merino Gonzalez crashed against the crossbar (90+2’). Shortly before the final whistle, Kehrer also narrowly missed scoring the winner. The score remained 1-1 going into extra time.

Both the Werkself and HSV initially avoided taking any risks. Both teams changed ends for the last time without any real goalmouth action - and from then on, it was almost exclusively the visitors who were on the front foot. A long-range shot from Grant landed just wide of the goal (108'). Three minutes later, Haidner saved from Kehrer. The keeper was also on hand to save a long-range shot from Bartz (112'). At the other end, Moll pulled off a great save to deny Hillebrand three minutes later. As both defences held firm, the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Mickenhagen and Kehrer missed their penalties, while all four HSV players scored.

coming up: home game against SGS ESSEN

The Bayer 04 Women face SGS Essen in the Bundesliga next weekend. The home game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against the team at the bottom of the table on Saturday, 22 November kicks off at 14:00 CET. Click HERE for tickets.

Match stats:

Hamburger SV: Haider - Wucher (Kardesler 85’), Räcke, Stoldt, Schulz, Eggert - Hillebrand, Büchele (Hirche 90+1’), Machtens (Lahr 88’), L. Wrede (Mikolajova 91’) - Brunnthaler

Bayer 04: Moll - Merino Gonzalez, Ostermeier (Wenger 74’), Turanyi, Mickenhagen - Zdebel (Bartz 74’), Piljic - Bender (Mädl 25’), Kögel - Kehrer, Fudalla (Grant 64’)

Goals: 1-0 Hillebrand (68'), 1-1 Mickenhagen (73')

Penalty shoot-out: 1-0 Schulz, 1-1 Kögel, 2-1 Mikolajova, Haidner saves Mickenhagen penalty, 3-1 Hillebrand, 3-2 Grant, 4-2 Stoldt, Kehrer misses

Yellow cards: Brunnthaler, Hillebrand - Ostermeier, Turanyi, Kögel

Referee: Karoline Wacker (Murrhardt)

Attendance: 3,993 at the Volksparkstadion