New trio score: Women secure first win of the season against Union Berlin

Pätzold made one change to the starting XI compared to the 2-0 opening defeat at Bayern Munich in front of a record crowd of 57,762 spectators at the Allianz Arena. Estrella Merino Gonzalez, who sat out the first match due to a knock, started at right-back, with summer signing Wamser moving to left-back and Julia Mickenhagen on the bench. Mädl came in for Cornelia Kramer, who had to drop out after the warm-up due to an injury.

tremendous start, then too passive

Mädl had the first chance for the Bayer 04 Women in the opening minute of the game. Union keeper Cara Bösl was able to make the save to keep out the shot. Just two minutes later, however, Bösl was beaten. A low shot from Fudalla slipped under her body to make it 1-0 for the home side. And so it continued. Just 120 seconds later, Mädl made it 2-0 with a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner. After this tremendous start, the capital city club, who had drawn 1-1 at home to fellow promoted side FC Nürnberg in their first game, were initially shaken. Gradually, coach Ailien Poese's team settled down without initially posing a threat on goal themselves. On 16 minutes, the first notable effort on goal by the Berliners did not cause any problems for Friederike Repohl in the Bayer 04 goal.

Pätzold's team then allowed their opponents to get into the game - and that was duly punished when Dina Orschmann reduced the deficit at 2-1 on 27 minutes. Union were now on the front foot and Repohl prevented an equaliser saving a clever low shot to the near post with the help of the woodwork. It was now clear that Pätzold was right in his pre-match assessment that Union were anything but a "normal" promoted team. The two yellow cards for Wamser and Katharina Pilic, but above all a cross that turned into a shot on goal that really tested Repohl, showed that Bayer 04 were now coming under increasing pressure. The Leverkusen players were happy to take their narrow lead into the half-time break. 

brilliant strike by Wamser

Pätzold clearly emphasised the need for more aggression in the break. The Bayer 04 Women now endeavoured to regain control of the game without initially creating any clear-cut chances. That changed abruptly after the hour mark thanks to Wamser, who curled the ball into the right-hand corner of the net from around twenty metres out. Union endeavoured to hit back but Leverkusen were now much more focussed and initially had the game largely under control.

Shortly before the end of the game, Union managed to level through Tomke Schneider following a corner, so the Black and Reds were once again under pressure in the seven minutes of added time. And Union almost scored to make it 3-3 but Kristin Kögel cleared off the line. As a result, the Werkself managed to hold on to the narrow, but overall well-deserved win with a mixture of skill, hard work and a little luck.

coming up: Next clash with promoted team

The Werkself face another newly promoted team next weekend. Pätzold's team are away to FC Nürnberg on Sunday, 21 September (16:00 CEST, live on MagentaSport and DAZN). The next home game follows on Thursday, 25 September (19:00 CEST, live on Sport1, MagentaSport and DAZN), against Champions League participants Eintracht Frankfurt. Tickets for the match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium are available HERE.

Match stats

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez (Mickenhagen 67’), Wenger, Turanyi, Wamser - Zdebel, Piljic - Grant (Daedelow 85’) , Kögel - Mädl (Haim 70’), Fudalla (Bartz 85’)

Union Berlin: Bösl - Aehling, Steuerwald, Schneider - Steinert (Weiß 68’), Pawollek, Campbell, Reissner (Bauereisen 68’) - Heiseler - Orschmann, Weidauer

Goalscorers: 1-0 Fudalla (3’), 2-0 Mädl (5’), 2-1 Orschmann (27’), 3-1 Wamser (60’), 3-2 Schneider (87’)

Yellow cards: Piljic, Wamser - Steuerwald, Pawollek

Referee: Anna-Lena Heidenreich (Bad Schwartau)

Attendance: 996 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium