The Frauen-Bundesliga continued with it's usual thrills and spills this weekend, albeit without spoiling the script too much as Bayern Munich maintained their spot in the driving seat.

With just five games remaining, it's only a matter of time before they cannot be mathematically caught, but the relegation race and the fight for second are giving us the entertainment to make up for the predictable outcome up at the very top.

Both these races heated up in the latest round of fixtures too, particularly in terms of that Champions League spot as the two main contenders - 1. FFC Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg - faced off.

Bayern keep their lead, but have a new closest pursuer

There were no surprises on Saturday when Bayern opened the match day at home to USV Jena. The leaders, and reigning champions, ran out 5-1 winners on the day as Vivianne Miedema bagged a hat-trick.

The Dutch forward opened the scoring inside just two minutes, finding space to shoot in the box before then finding the back of the net. A penalty from Melanie Behringer came before Miedema's second, and it was followed up by a glimmer of hope for Jena thanks to Rachelle Melhado's strike.

However, Nicole Rolser's effort before the hour and the completion of Miedema's hat-trick put the game beyond doubt in the second period, with their lead at the top now eight points.

They aren't looking over their shoulders at Frankfurt anymore though, but instead Wolfsburg after the Wolves emerged victorious against their rivals for second place on Sunday.

The scoring in the weekend's big header was opened up by Frankfurt and Dzsenifer Marozsan, who broke the deadlock on 22 minutes to give her side the upper hand.

It wasn't an advantage that lasted though as Caroline Graham Hansen levelled the scores on 34 minutes, meaning the second half was perfectly poised at 1-1.

Hansen wasn't done having her say either and when Desirée Schumann was penalised for a foul in the area with a red card, the Norway international made her punishment even harsher as she converted the resulting spot kick to put the Wolves 2-1 up.

Zsanett Jakabfi rounded off the scoring in the final minute of the 90, with her strike ensuring three points and a jump into second place for her team.

Hot on the heels of the top three now are SC Sand, who narrowed the gap to the top two to just four points with a 5-1 thrashing of bottom side 1. FC Köln.

They went behind early thanks to Marie Pyko's second minute effort, but Chioma Igwe and Jovana Damnjanović scored two in two minutes towards the end of the half to ensure a lead for the visitors at the break.

Nina Burger, Anne Van Bonn and Dominika Škorvánková then rounded things off in style after the interval as Sand continue their impressive campaign.

Little hope left for the newly-promoted duo

That defeat for Köln was made even worse by Werder Bremen's result, who recorded the shock of the weekend with a 1-0 win over SC Freiburg.

New Zealand international Betsy Hassett scored the only goal of the game on 76 minutes - her first since her arrival at the club earlier this year.

However, whilst that put a dent in Freiburg's distant hopes of a top two finish, it hasn't done a great deal for Werder's survival bid as they remain five points from safety.

The team they are chasing though, Bayer Leverkusen, missed out on a third straight win on Sunday as they were hammered 6-0 by fellow strugglers 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam.

Turbine have more than underwhelmed this season, sitting in eighth with just 20 points from their 16 games even after this victory, but they put on a show at the weekend. Svenja Huth was particularly outstanding as she bagged a hat-trick to move to the top of the league's scoring chart - level with Frankfurt's Mandy Islacker.

Lia Wälti broke the deadlock after only nine minutes, whilst Huth and Ilaria Mauro scored within less than 60 seconds of each other to take it to 3-0 with 32 minutes played.

Viktoria Schwalm notched the game's fifth goal, either side of Huth nearing and then completing her treble, but there is little left for Turbine to aim for given their position and the stage of the season.

Finally, resting just above Potsdam in seventh are TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who beat another team in mid-table obscurity, SGS Essen, at the weekend. 

It was an emphatic win too, reading 4-0 in the end. Christine Schneider, Nicole Billa, Theresa Betz and Martina Moser bagged the goals that ensured a happy home side.

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About the author
Ameé Ruszkai
Head of the Sunderland, Swansea City and women football sections at VAVEL UK. Email: [email protected]