Fudalla nets brace: Bayer 04 Women beat FC Nürnberg

Pätzold made four changes to his starting XI compared with the late 2-1 win at Union Berlin. Captain Friederike Repohl returned in goal in place of Anne Moll after recovering from muscular problems, Claudia Wenger replaced Lilla Turanyi  in central defence, with the scorer against Union Berlin Kristin Kögel and Valentina Mädl starting up front in place of the suspended Carlotta Wamser (fifth yellow card) and Ruby Grant (red card).

FUdalla denied by Romero

The Werkself started in a structured manner and combined well up to the opponent's penalty area. The first effort on goal came from a corner. The ball, which was initially blocked, ended up with Selina Ostermeier who shot from distance in her 100th Bundesliga match. Her slightly deflected shot just missed the target (8'). Two minutes later Estrella Merino Gonzalez put the ball over the crossbar from distance. The visitors then stepped up their game and Repohl also had to intervene for the first time to keep out a deflected shot. At the other end, Fudalla missed the best chance of the match so far. After a quick move, her shot on the turn from the left was deflected slightly in the penalty area and cleared for a corner by the FCN keeper Lourdes Romero with a strong reflex save (25').

With fresh impetus, Leverkusen kept going and pushed for the lead. After a through ball from Juliette Vidal to Mädl, the Austrian played a cross to Caroline Kehrer on the edge of the six-yard box but she was unable to control the ball and it was cleared for a corner. That led to the opening goal. Kögel headed the quickly taken corner on to Fudalla, who shot from around 25 metres out. The ball found the bottom right corner - her tenth goal of the season and a particularly impressive one at that (37'). Shortly before the break, Repohl made a save to keep out a powerful shot by top Nürnberg's goalscorer Nastassja Lein and preserve the lead.

own goal from Fröhlich

The second half also began with a dominant home team. Fudalla curled a direct free-kick into the side netting (50'). Two minutes later, former Leverkusen player Fröhlich helped the Black and Reds to a 2-0 lead when her attempted clearance from a Kehrer cross ended up in her own goal (52'). A short time later, Pätzold made his first substitution with Loreen Bender coming on for Mädl (59').

The Bayer 04 Women continued to control the game and barely allowed the Franconians to get close to goal. Instead, Kögel missed the chance to make it 3-0 with a direct shot in the centre (69'). Substitute Bender did better two minutes later. A defence-splitting pass from Vidal from the centre came to with Fudalla, who fed the 20-year-old in the centre. Bender kept her cool in front of Romero and slotted home the third goal. Shortly afterwards, the Kögel-Fudalla combination made it 4-0: Kögel set up Leverkusen top scorer Fudalla, who fired a shot into the top right corner (76').

Immediately after that, Pätzold brought on homegrown player Sana Coskun for her first appearance in front of a home crowd a week after her Bundesliga debut. The 17-year-old came on for the two-time assist provider Kögel. Melissa Friedrich (for Katharina Piljic) also came into the game. Friedrich's header from a corner almost made it 5-0 (85'). Shortly before the final whistle, there were two more Bundesliga debuts to celebrate. Jana Lindner (for Vidal) and Alisa Sinani (for Fudalla) from the U23s were able to enjoy the last few minutes on the pitch until the game ended with a 4-0 victory.

coming up: away to EINTRACHt Frankfurt and Derby against FC Köln

The Black ands Red are back in action in exactly one week's time on Saturday, 7 February (14:00 CET) at the Stadion am Brentanobad away to Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 17. That is followed by the derby against FC Köln at the UHS on Carnival Friday, 13 February (18:30 CET). Tickets for the match are available HERE  online.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Wenger, Ostermeier, Mickenhagen - Piljic (Friedrich 77’), Vidal (Lindner 87’) - Fudalla (Sinani 87’), Kögel (Coskun 77’) - Kehrer, Mädl (Bender 59’)

FC Nürnberg: Romero - Proniez, Fördös (Lindner 81’), Wos, Fröhlich - Mai (Svensson Senelius 88’), Guttenberger, Miller (Seguin 72’), Meroni - Lein (Licina 82’), Polaskova (Günster 72’)

Goals: 1-0 Fudalla (37'), 2-0 Fröhlich (52', o.g.), 3-0 Bender (71'), 4-0 Fudalla (76')

Yellow cards: Wenger - Fördös

Referee: Fabienne Michel (Mainz)

Attendance: 560 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium