Pätzold made two changes to his starting line-up after the 1-0 defeat against Werder Bremen on Wednesday. Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir and Caroline Kehrer, who started on the bench on Wednesday, came back into the team in place of winter signing Ruby Grant and Delice Boboy.
From the opening stages of the game, the Werkself underlined their efforts to make amends after the DFB Pokal exit. Janou Levels missed with the first attempt on goal from distance (2'), then Cornelia Kramer put a header just wide from an accurate Levels cross (4’). Two minutes later, Estrella Merino Gonzalez had a shot from a tight angle that was kept out by the TSG keeper Laura Dick. The hosts found more and more space after 15 minutes and had their first attacks.
The next chance for the opening goal fell to the visitors playing in white: Kristin Kögel just failed to connect with the ball from a Kramer cross (16'). Then there was a rush of chances. From a short corner, a Kramer cross found central defender Selina Ostermeier who put the ball wide of the post with her shoulder (19’).
A long ball up front gave Hoffenheim the chance to take the lead out of the blue . Central defender Lilla Turanyi was unable to cut out the pass leaving Julia Hickelsberger one-on-one with goalkeeper Friederike Repohl. In combination with Turanyi, the captain grabbed the ball from the striker's feet (33'). Both teams succeeded in breaking down opposition attacks early with pressing leading to minor inaccuracies with passing for both defences. The game remained goalless at half-time.
As in the first half, the Bayer 04 Women were on the front foot after the break. Vilhjalmsdottir tested the Hoffenheim keeper with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area (47’). Five minutes later, Kögel hit the side netting from a whipped-in cross from Levels. The combination of Levels and Vilhjalmsdottir brought the next goalscoring opportunity for Leverkusen: The Iceland international was thwarted by Dick again from a similar distance (56’).
A misplaced pass by Turanyi in the build-up helped TSG secure an unexpected lead. Captain Melissa Kössler intercepted the ball on the edge of the Leverkusen penalty area and put it through to substitute Selina Cerci who remained cool as she slotted the ball past Repohl (59'). The Werkself immediately pressed for an equaliser but remained out of luck: Sofie Zdebel hit the ball from 17 metres out onto the inside of the left-hand post (65').Two minutes later, Kramer curled a shot towards goal but Dick made an impressive flying save to keep it out of the top corner (67'). The following corner saw a shot from Turányi end up in the arms of the keeper (68').
Pätzold then brought on Grant and Boboy in place of Kögel and Vilhjalmsdottir (69.) But that did not change the flow the game. The Bayer 04 Women dominated play but Hoffenheim were more solid in defence. To provide fresh legs in attack, Pätzold brought on Synne Skinnes Hansen in the closing stages for her comeback appearance after months on the sidelines. The Norwegian, out of action since October with a thigh injury, replaced Vilhjalmsdottir (79’). In spite of the clear advantage on the pitch, the Werkself were not able to produce enough decent chances in this phase allowing TSG to hold onto their narrow lead.
Matchday 16 in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga is in the middle of March. Before the Werkself play newly promoted FC Carl Zeiss Jena on Sunday, 9 March (18.30 CET), several players will be away on international duty. The first two matchdays in the UEFA Women's Nation's League are being played up to 26 February.
Match stats:
TSG Hoffenheim: Dick - Janssens (Hahn 82'), Cazalla, Doorn, Rankin - Diehm, Feldkamp (Dongus 72') - Hickelsberger (Cerci 46'), Kössler, Grabowska (Steiner 90+3’) - Memeti (Delacauw 72')
Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Ostermeier, Turanyi, Levels - Zdebel, Vidal (Bartz 90+1’) - Vilhjalmsdottir (Skinnes Hansen 79’), Kögel (Grant 69’) - Kramer (Bragstad 90+1’), Kehrer (Boboy 69’)
Goals: 1-0 Cerci (59’)
Yellow cards: Feldkamp, Janssens - Levels
Referee: Kathrin Heimann (Gladbeck)
Attendance: 585 at the Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion
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