As the snow hit Germany this weekend both Frankfurt vs Essen and Duisburg vs Sand postponed were left postponed as the other eight teams braved the cold – but avoided the full-on winter wonderland.
It's possible Jena and Köln would rather their matches away to Freiburg and Werder had been called off with both suffering heavy defeats, elsewhere Potsdam put an end to Hoffenheim’s winning run and Wolfsburg took the Monday night honours over Munich.
SC Freiburg 5-0 USV Jena
Struggling with injuries, Freiburg got themselves back on-track with a hearty win over a Jena side that has yet to dig out a win this season. Carolin Schiewe’s converted penalty late in the first half was enough to break the deadlock, the centre-back rising well to beat Justien Odeurs to a lofted corner moments later and double the advantage just before the break.
The second half held no joy for the visitors, Lena Petermann’s bullet header too much for Odeurs to deal with, the fourth flying in ten minutes later Hasret Kayikçi benifiting from an inch-perfect Giulia Gwinn cross. Gwinn lively up the right throughout the match, the fifth goal a carbon-copy of the fourth, Gwinn’s neat cross sent home by Kayikçi’s replacement, Sandra Starke.
Werder Bremen 7-0 FC Köln
Having picked up a modicum of steam against strugglers Jena and Duisburg before being hit for eight against Potsdam, Köln were in for another tough loss away to a Bremen team who came up with them this summer.
Attempting to clear the ball as Giovanna Hoffmann arrived behind her, Carolin Dej turned the ball into her own net to give the hosts the lead fifteen minutes in. The defender involved again ten minutes before the break when she was shown two yellows and forced to walk, Köln digging in well despite the numerical disadvantage. However, the difference finally told and Werder picked up steam, Verena Volkmer’s header on the hour the catalyst, Nina Lührßen on hand to volley home from close range seven minutes later.
With the snow falling and the visitors tiring, Hoffmann slipped beyond the defence and rounded Anne-Kathrine Kremer before rolling the ball home just five minutes after Lührßen’s third. Things fast went from bad to worse for FCK as they switched off long enough to see the hosts hit them for three in the space of four minutes at the death, substitutes Cindy König and Nora Clausen having an instant impact. König was left free on the left side of the box to lash the goal of the day into the near top corner seconds before Lührßen picked out the same spot to fire in the seventh. With little left on the clock it was for Clausen to wrap the match up from range, the visitors thoroughly undone.
Turbine Potsdam 2-0 1899 Hoffenheim
Locked in a tailspin of draws, the Turbines hadn’t won back-to-back games since the first two weekends of the season when they took to the pitch at the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion against a Hoffenheim team that were in full-flow. Friederike Abt was in fine form from start to finish, the visiting defence standing up well as the attack picked its moments to get forward, Rachel Kiwic’s towering header half an hour in enough to tip the tie.
The match not confirmed until Amanda Ilestedt mirrored her centre-back counterpart with her own header at a late set piece, the Swede’s first for her new club more than enough to secure all three points
VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 Bayern München
In what was scheduled to be one of the matches of the season, there was plenty of drama as last season’s top two clashed, the hosts taking the lead seconds into the game when Pernille Harder expertly picked out Ewa Pajor. Dashing into the box, the young Polish international lifted the ball over Manuela Zinsberger with aplomb to give the Wolves an early advantage.
Only having needed 105 seconds to open the scoring, the hosts were quick to fire in a second, Caroline Graham Hansen’s pick-out enough to see Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir set away and fire the ball home at the first time of asking, all before the clock had struck into the fifth minute. Maybe inspired by the poor defending at one end, Wolfsburg soon left the door open for the Bavarians, Jovana Damnjanović lively to chase onto Melanie Behringer’s through ball and race past Nilla Fischer and Lena Goeßling before firing home.
After three goals in eight minutes the game finally calmed down, Alex Popp’s angled header fifteen minutes before the break enough to see the Wolves reopen a two goal-gap, the match out of Munich’s grasp. A game that hadn’t been without its fouls, things only got worse after the break, Tessa Wullaert booked for a kick-out after the whistle had gone just after the hour, the Belgian instantly shown a second yellow after spitting over her shoulder in the direction of referee Katrin Rafalski. Down a man, Wolfsburg did enough to keep a sub-par Munich out, the visitors reduced to ten themselves as the very death, Damnjanović shown a second yellow with five seconds of stoppage time left to shushing the crowd. The match not without its questionable decisions.
