Werkself Women beat NAC Breda 8-1 in stormy weather

"We did very well today in sometimes difficult conditions. I was very impressed that we kept up the tempo for the full 90 minutes and achieved the best possible result," said head coach Roberto Pätzold: "I was pleased that some players who didn't always get much playing time in recent matches were able to get on the scoresheet. All in all, it was a very successful friendly."

In addition to the six international players who will be on international duty in the coming days, the long-term injured Shen Menglu (cruciate ligament tear) and Cornelia Kramer (muscle injury) are still sidelined. Head coach Pätzold also had to manage without Loreen Bender (illness) and captain Friederike Repohl, who suffered a thigh injury in training and is ruled out for  the next few weeks.

three goals in the first 18 Minutes

From the start of the game, the Werkself Women had the upper hand against the team from the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen, who are currently bottom of the table. Caroline Kehrer opened the scoring on five minutes when the Canadian lifted the ball over the Breda goalkeeper from twenty metres out to give Leverkusen the lead. Ruby Grant had a shot from a Paulina Bartz pass that hit the crossbar (8'). Bartz did better on 15 minutes, the attacking player curling the ball into the right-hand corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. The Werkself did not let up and Kehrer increased the lead to 3-0 shortly afterwards with a deflected effort (18'). Towards the middle of the first half, the visitors posed a threat on goal for the first time with Heshof beating goalkeeper Anne Moll to reduce the deficit to 3-1. The action continued in the 38th minute: After a one-two with Vanessa Fudalla substitute Valentina Mädl made it 4:1 - the scoreline at half-time.

Sofie Zdebel came on for Melissa Friedrich at the start of the second half and was immediately given the captain's armband. Less than ten minutes into the second half, Leverkusen's top scorer so far this season, Vanessa Fudalla, scored her next goal: The striker controlled a cross from Selina Ostermeier and thumped the ball into the left corner from 18 metres out (53'). Seven minutes later, a Fudalla shot struck Breda defender Verhoef from the left edge of the penalty area and the resulting own goal made it 6-1 for Bayer 04 (60'). The Werkself kept going with Mädl netting a brace with a chip over the keeper to make it 7-1 (69'). The Austrian striker scored again ten minutes later (79') - her hat-trick rounded off the scoring at 8-1.

coming up: away to carl zeiss Jena 

After the international break, Leverkusen will face Carl Zeiss Jena, currently 13th in the table, on Matchday 8 of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga on Sunday, 2 November (kick-off: 13:00 CET) at the ad hoc Arena in the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Moll - Schwartze (Martens 75’), Turanyi (Friedrich 67’), Ostermeier, Lindner (Eltgen 67’)- Grant, Friedrich (Zdebel 46’) - Bartz (Bartzen 75’), Fudalla (Haim 67’)- Kehrer (Wrigge 75’), Haim (Mädl 21’)

Goals: 1-0 Kehrer (5'), 2-0 Bartz (15'), 3-0 Kehrer (18'), 3-1 Heshof (31'), 4-1 Mädl (38'), 5-1 Fudalla (53'), 6-1 Verhoef o.g. (60'), 7-1 Mädl (69'), 8-1 Mädl (79')

Referee: Meike Frank (Uckerath)

Attendance: 40 at Kurtekotten Performance Centre