Bender and Fudalla score in 2-0 win at TSG Hoffenheim

One week after the derby was abandoned, the Werkself continue their winning run in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 2-0 at TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday afternoon, mainly thanks to a strong second half, to record their fifth consecutive victory. Loreen Bender (75’) and Vanessa Fudalla (82’) scored for Bayer 04 at the Dietmar Hopp Stadium and Leverkusen now have twelve points from five games.

"We wanted to take a lot of risks and were determined to win here after we didn’t get the result our performance deserved last year. We definitely earned the three points this time with our hard work, especially thanks to the strong second-half performance," said Pätzold: "It was a real battle of attrition in the first half. We had to survive tricky situations, but we gave hardly any big chances away and we created a few clear goalscoring opportunities ourselves. We then made organisational changes, piled on the pressure and established ourselves more and more in the opposition half. In the final phase, we scored two great goals in the style of our play."

The coach made one change to the starting XI compared to the abandoned derb y at 1. FC Köln. Ruby Grant came in for the injured Bender. After testing each out in the opening minutes without any notable goalmouth action, Fudalla put the Werkself on the front foot. A fine pass from Valentina Mädl led to a chance on goal for Leverkusen's top goalscorer this season but TSG defender Lisa Doorn made a crucial intervention (13'). Three minutes later, central defender Lilla Turany made a perfectly-timed tackle to deny the onrushing Selina Cerci in a counter-attack at the opposite end.

Turanyi and Repohl prevent WERKSELF going behind

Shortly after that, the Hungary international made another great clearance. Turanyi blocked a powerful long-range shot from Cerci with her head, which led to her briefly receiving treatment on the pitch (23'). Three minutes later, Mädl set up Kristin Kögel in the penalty area but her shot caused no problems for Laura Dick in the TSG goal. The game continued to go back and forth: Melissa Kössler curled a free-kick just over the target (31'). The hosts' next chance was thwarted by Friederike Repohl when TSG midfielder Feli Delacauw shot from close range with the Leverkusen keeper was making an impressive reflex save. Cerci failed to connect properly as she attempted to volley home the rebound. The score remained 0-0 at the break.

Fudalla and Wamser miss chance to net opener

At the start of the second half, Pätzold brought on Caroline Kehrer for Mädl. The striker made her presence felt after just five minutes: Her sharp left-footed shot from a standing start forced Dick into a flying save. The Werkself were now increasingly dominant - and Vanessa Fudalla had the best chance of the game so far shortly after that. The former Leipzig player slid in to meet a whipped-in Kehrer cross from the right and volleyed the ball just over the bar (58'). Just 60 seconds later Carlotta Wamser hit the ball over the bar from the left.

Leverkusen continued to dominate the game and pressed for the first goal: Set up by Kögel, Kehrer had the chance to open the scoring with her next shot, but the ball flew just past the right-hand post (64'). The visitors, playing in all blue, continued to try their luck: A Fudalla shot from distance landed in the arms of Dick (67'). Another forward came on with Bender replacing Grant. It took TSG until the 73rd minute before Cerci forced Repohl to make another save to keep out a tricky effort.

Bender and Fudalla secure the win

Two minutes later, the Bayer 04 Women were rewarded for their impressive second-half display: Fudalla's delicate cross from the left found the head of substitute Bender, whose header beat Dick with the help of the inside of her post (75'). Shortly afterwards Juliette Vidal replaced Sofie Zdebel l in central midfield (79’). The Werkself kept the pressure up - and Fudalla crowned her strong performance. The striker lifted a cross from Kehrer over her opponent and thumped the ball against the underside of the crossbar. From there it went behind the goal line to make it 2-0 (82') - her fourth goal of the season earned the deserved final scoreline.

coming up: rearranged match in cologne on thursday

The next game for the Werkself is on Thursday. On 16 October (18:00 CEST), Leverkusen will once again face 1. FC Köln at the Franz Kremer Stadium. Last Sunday's fixture was abandoned after 37 minutes due to a floodlight failure. On Saturday, the German Football Association (DFB) announced the rearranged date. Bought tickets remain valid and further tickets are available HERE from the FC Köln online shop and the matchday ticket office. Block H and the away standing area are available for Werkself fans. Three days after the derby, the Black and Reds then welcome runners-up VfL Wolfsburg to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 19 October (17:15 CEST). Tickets for this match are available HERE.

Match stats:

TSG Hoffenheim: Dick - Janssens (Natter 80’), Diehm, Doorn, Rankin (Kaut 70’) - Delacauw (Sinka 80’), Ampoorter, Gloning, Steiner (Harsch 60’) - Cerci, Kössler

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Wenger, Turanyi, Wamser - Zdebel (Vidal 79’), Piljic (Daedelow 87’) - Grant (Bender 67’), Kögel, Mädl (Kehrer 46’), Fudalla (Ostermeier 87’)

Goalscorers: 0-1 Bender (75'), 0-2 Fudalla (82').

Yellow cards: Janssens - Piljic

Referee: Julia Boike (Altenstadt)

Attendance: 945 at the Dietmar Hopp Stadium