“It was a very intense game that involved a lot of legwork. Our opponents pushed us to our limits and had more chances in the first half. There’s room for improvement regarding some of our decisions, we lost the ball too often,” said Pätzold. “We created considerably more chances in the second half, put our opponents under pressure and displayed good teamwork at defensive turnovers, so it was a deserved draw.” Compared to the defeat to FSV Gütersloh 2009 last week, the coach saw “a clear improvement in performance. We can build on it.”
The 44-year-old was able to call upon Anne Moll, Paulina Bartz, Delice Boboy, Estrella Merino Gonzalez and Julia Mickenhagen as they temporarily returned from the Germany U19s ahead of their Euros campaign, which starts in mid-July. New signings Kehrer and Kramer, youngsters Ida Daedelow and Nina Hainke as well as visiting players Nina Čavić and Juliette Vidal were in the squad. As against Gütersloh, Pätzold comprehensively shuffled his deck at half-time.
The lively opening stages were challenging for the black and red rearguard. Emilie Bragstad scrambled Barbara Dunst’s shot off the line (5’) before Friederike Repohl made a fine save against Nicole Anyomi’s shot from distance (10’). Former Bayer 04 captain and 2023/24 Player of the Season Elisa Senß put Eintracht in front just one minute later, when her shot found the top right corner of the net.
Pätzold’s team enjoyed more of the ball now and Julie Jorde had the first promising chance when her effort from 20 yards went only just wide. The pace dropped a little now, and Frankfurt’s Nadine Riesen (27’) and former Leverkusen player Lisanne Gräwe (45’) fired over Repohl’s goal.
Pätzold made 10 changes at half-time, with Repohl remaining between the sticks. The Werkself upped the ante after the restart and Merino Gonzalez soon had a big chance, but Frankfurt keeper Lea Paulick directed the deflected shot over the bar (56’). Pätzold’s team had further chances through Katharina Piljić (62’) and Kramer (64’).
Synne Skinnes Hansen rewarded the Black and Reds for their pressure when she crowned fine interplay down the right with a low shot that found the right corner of the net to level the scores (79’). The Werkself pressed for a winner until the closing stages, but another goal refused to come.
Bayer 04 Women round off the first part of pre-season away to second-division Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday 12 July (kick-off 6.30pm CEST). After a two-week break, the players return to training on 26 July and head to a training camp in Katowice, Poland from 29 July to 5 August. Three more friendlies against international opponents are on the schedule there. The Google Pixel Bundesliga season kicks off at the end of August, followed by the second round of the DFB Pokal a week later.
Find Bayer 04 Women's full summer schedule HERE!
Match stats:
Bayer 04, first half: Repohl – Čavić, Bragstad, Vidal, Levels - Zdebel, Jorde, Bender, Vilhjálmsdóttir - Kehrer, Boboy
Bayer 04, second half: Repohl – Skinnes Hansen, Turányi, Ostermeier, Mickenhagen (Cava Marin 75') – Piljić (Bartz 88'), Daedelow, Bartz (Hainke 75'), Kögel - Merino Gonzalez, Kramer
Goals: 0-1 Senß (11'), 1-1 Skinnes Hansen (79')
Referee: Bernd Peters
Attendance: 180
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