Defeat against Bremen:Bayer 04 Women miss out on DFB Pokal semi-finals

Compared with Saturday's 1-1 draw against SGS Essen in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, Pätzold made two changes to his starting XI. Juliette Vidal and Delice Boboy came into the side in place of Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir and Caroline Kehrer.

Werkself press for opener

Goalkeeper Friederike Repohl was tested for the first time after two minutes. The captain came out of her area to clear a through ball from the visitors to deny the oncoming Sophie Weidauer. Cornelia Kramer had the first chance for the Werkself shortly after that. The Denmark international hit a free kick just wide of the target to the right from 25 metres out. The hosts then took control of the game and were camped out in the opposition half. The best chance at that point fell to Boboy who got onto the end of a fine pass at the back of the defence but her shot hit the outside netting (15'). 

Kramer came even closer to breaking the deadlock, set up by Boboy, with a firm shot against the bar (18'). The Werkself again and again tried to score with long-range efforts and from set pieces with Werder Bremen unable to mount counter-attacks. One of the few transition moves did bring the first big chance for the visitors playing in white. A volley from Maja Sternad from the edge of the six-yard box went over the bar (34').

At the other end, Janou Levels hit a shot from 17 metres out but was unable to beat the Werder Bremen keeper Livia Peng. Werder upped their game in attack just before half-time. First Rieke Dieckmann missed the target from 13 metres out before Larissa Mühlhaus struck out of the blue. A corner from Tuana Mahmoud found the head of the striker who beat Repohl who stood no chance of keeping out the opening goal (45'). 1-0 to Werder Bremen at the break.

There were no changes at the start of the second half as the Bayer 04 Women looked to provide a quick reply to the blow before the break. A well struck long-range effort from Vidal went just wide of the right upright (53'). Kramer had a header from a corner but Peng was again in the right place to make the save (58'). In an effort to freshen up the attack, Pätzold then brought on two forwards: Vilhjalmsdottir and Kehrer replaced Vidal and Kögel (61’).

Werder Bremen were very compact in defence as they defended their fortunate lead by the Werkself attack rarely succeeded in breaking through at the other end. At the same time, Bremen waited for their chance to counter. Weidauer lobbed the ball over Repohl as she raced out but the effort went wide of the goal to the left (73'). The Black and Reds tried more and more to use the flanks but there was a lack of precision with crosses. Pätzold brought on Emilie Bragstad and Shen Menglu (for Ruby Grant and Boboy) for the final few minutes.

His team pressed for the equaliser while Weidauer missed the chance to make it 2-0 to Werder (84'). The Leverkusen Women fought to the end but the tie ended in a 1-0 defeat.

outlook: League clash at Hoffenheim

The Werkself end the week on Sunday, 16 February with a game against TSG Hoffenheim on Bundesliga Matchday 15 (14.00 CET, live on MagentaSport and DAZN). Tickets for the match at the Dietmar Hopp Stadion are available HERE. After that, several players will be away on international duty.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Ostermeier, Turanyi, Levels - Zdebel, Vidal (Vilhjalmsdottir 61’) - Grant (Menglu 82’), Kögel (Kehrer 61’) - Kramer, Boboy (Bragstad 82’)

Werder Bremen: Peng - Matheis, Hausicke, Nemeth, Ronan - Mahmoud (Papai 90+3’), Arfaoui (Walkling 80’), Dieckmann (Schmidt 85’), Sternad - Mühlhaus, Weidauer

Goals: 0-1 Mühlhaus (45’)

Yellow cards: Kögel, Grant, Boboy, Zdebel - Mühlhaus, Mahmoud, Weidauer

Referee: Davina Lutz (Poppenhausen)

Attendance: 1,175 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium