Fudalla nets brace as Bayer 04 Women beat Frankfurt in top match

For the third time in a row, Pätzold started with the same eleven players. While Ida Daedelow and Melissa Friedrich were sidelined due to injuries, Jana Lindner and Sana Coskun from the club's U23s were in the Werkself squad for the first time in a competitive match.

The Bayer 04 Women were the more active team right from the start and took an early lead. A shot from Katharina Piljic was blocked by the visitors' defender Jella Veit with her hand and the ball rebounded to the feet of Fudalla, who promptly put the ball in the back of the net. However, referee Nadine Westerhoff had already awarded a penalty. After some brief commotion, the former Leipzig player converted the spot kick (7’) for her second goal of the season in the fourth game.

Fudalla bags brace

After the dream start, the Black and Reds maintained control of the match. With the lead at 1-0, Pätzold's team began to play their game and ventured down the wings again and again. At the other end, Geraldine Reuteler looked to score for Eintracht but her volley flew over the crossbar (18'). Just at a time when the action was largely taking place in midfield, the hosts followed up with a great move: Former Frankfurt player Carlotta Wamser found Fudalla with a cross from the left half of the pitch, and she took the ball cleanly. From just under five metres, she had no trouble slotting past goalkeeper Lina Altenburg, who stood no chance, to make it 2-0 (27').

Leverkusen continued to pose a threat after that. After Piljic won the ball in midfield, Kristin Kögel took a shot from 22 metres but missed the target by a wide margin (35'). Shortly before the break, the visitors reduced the deficit to 2-1 with their first major chance: Bayer 04 captain Friederike Repohl made an impressive save to deny Reuteler but she then stood no chance with Rebecka Blomqvist's shot (42'). The Swede scored twice in Eintracht's recent  4-3 win over RB Leipzig. Seconds before the half-time whistle, Fudalla was brought down in the penalty area after being caught by Amanda Ilestedt, but no penalty was awarded. The teams went into the break with the scoreline at 2-1.

Bender replaces Zdebel

The visitors were more positive at the start of the second 45 but initially failed to create any promising opportunities to equalise. After 56 minutes, Pätzold made his first substitution, Sofie Zdebel, on a yellow card, was replaced by Loreen Bender scorer of the late winner in the 1-0 victory in Nuremberg. While Bender now played on the right side of the attack, Ruby Grant moved into the double pivot. Eintracht increasingly pushed the Werkself back towards their goal, but the hosts remained vigilant. After a triple substitution by Eintracht, Pätzold also reacted again. Caroline Kehrer made her second appearance of the season after a long injury lay-off, with Valentina Mädl making way (66').

There was little flow to the game after that, while Eintracht looked to level, the Bayer 04 Women hit back with a great deal of passion and waited for opportunities to play on the break. Substitute Remina Chiba missed the best chance to make it 2-2 with a shot from a tight angle (77'). Pätzold brought on Vanessa Haim for the final ten minutes in place of Grant (87'). Although his team only managed a few more attacks, the Leverkusen side successfully held on to their narrow lead to the end.

looking forward: DFB Pokal and DERBY

The Werkself continue their busy run of fixtures on Sunday, 28 September (12:00 CEST, live stream on Werkself TV and on the Bayer 04 app) in the first round of the DFB Pokal away to Regional League side SV 07 Elversberg. Tickets for the match at the Waldstadion Betzental are available HERE. In the Bundesliga, the derby against FC Köln follows a week later on Sunday, 5 October (18:30 CEST/live on MagentaSport and DAZN) at the Franz Kremer Stadium. Away tickets are available HERE from the FC Köln online shop. Block H and the away standing area are available for away fans.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Wenger, Turanyi, Wamser - Zdebel (Bender 56’), Piljic - Grant (Haim 87’), Kögel - Mädl (Kehrer 66’), Fudalla

Eintracht Frankfurt: Altenburg - Wolter (Lührßen 63’) , Ilestedt, Veit, D. Acikgöz (Teulings 79’) - Memeti, Gräwe (I. Acikgöz 86’), Senß (Anyomi 63’) - Reuteler, Freigang (Chiba 63’), Blomqvist

Goalscorers: 1-0 Fudalla (7' pen.), 2-0 Fudalla (27'), 2-1 Blomqvist (42')

Yellow cards: Zdebel, Wamser, Pätzold (coach), Bender - Veit, Gräwe, Arnautis (coach), I. Acikgöz, Ilestedt

Referee: Nadine Westerhoff (Bochum)

Attendance: 1,076 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium