Using their midweek games in hand, Potsdam and Wolfsburg went first and second respectively before Munich and Freiburg capitalised on Wolfsburg’s postponed match against Jena to leapfrog the Lower Saxony team.
Potsdam finished the season off well on top as Frankfurt and Hoffenheim bagged much needed wins on the last day of the year.
Turbine Potsdam 1-0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Freshly back in Potsdam from their away trip to Munich, the Turbines continued to look a shadow of themselves, failing to gel across the pitch, a few stand out performances enough to pull them through against a Leverkusen side that was keen to put the memories of their most recent loss to Essen behind them.
After being well found by Sarah Zadrazil in acres of space on the left side of the box, Felicitas Rauch fired a low shot across Anna Klink’s goal and into the far corner, the captain’s goal enough to separate the two at the whistle.
SGS Essen 0-2 VfL Wolfsburg
Not as effervescent as they had been against Leverkusen, Essen rode their luck at times through the first-half but could only hang on until the hour mark when Nilla Fischer pounced at the back-post to head the ball past Lisa Weiß after the keeper had made a fine save to deny Alex Popp’s wonderfully looped header that looked to be slipping just under the bar.
Second-half substitute Kozue Andō saw a half-chance go begging moments before the visitors made it two as Zsanett Jakabfi slipped around Jacqueline Klasen six yards out to poke home Popp’s lay-off.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-4 1899 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim hit the ground running at the Grenzlandstadion, Lina Bürger opening the scores just four minutes in, her neat effort from fifteen yards taking a nick off of the bottom of the bar as it flew over Christina Bellinghoven’s outstretched gloves. Sophie Howard was on hand to double the advantage five minutes later, nodding home a Christine Schneider free kick before Tabea Waßmuth made it three just two minutes later. The home defence ripped apart and caught on the counter, Waßmuth’s tidy run into the box to get on the end of Schneider through ball capped off with a relaxed finish to arrow the ball into the far side of the net.
The chances didn’t stop for the visitors but it wasn’t until the last knockings that Hoffenheim grabbed their fourth and last, Nicole Billa compounding Gladbach’s misery letting fly from the right side of the box to thunder a shot past Bellinghoven and into the left side of the goal.
SGS Essen 0-3 Bayern München
Having shaken off the rust of their most recent loss Munich hit the ground running in Essen, working the hosts from the outset; Essen still on a downward slide since their win over Leverkusen the previous weekend.
Nipping in before Lisa Weiß, Nicole Rolser sent Vivianne Miedema’s through ball over the keeper and into the waiting net, Essen’s high defensive line doing nothing to help them as they struggled to find a foot in the game.
Rolser back to wreak havoc after the break, the home defence doing nothing to cover themselves in glory as Nina Brüggemann nodded the ball away from Weiß’ outstretched gloves as she rushed off of her line, with no one at home Rolser was able to reach the ball before her marker and knock it into the open net.
Still not quite at the races it looked like the hosts were going to hold out and hang onto a 2-0 loss but a careless foul on Lisa Evans deep in stoppage time granted the Bavarians one last chance. With virtually the last kick of the game Katharina Baunach sent the ball arcing around the wall and through the air to cannon off of the underside of the bar and into the back of the net, giving Munich their best win of the season so far.
SC Freiburg 2-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
On top from the off, Freiburg missed the chance of going 1-0 up five minutes in when Hasret Kayikci pinged Selina Wagner pin-point ball against the underside of the bar only to watch in amazement as it bounced back out and was hastily cleared. Missed chances were a continue theme as Leverkusen, keen to get a finish the year with a strong performance saw a great chance slip marginally wide moments later when Henrietta Csiszár slipped beyond the defence and fired her low shot just the wrong side of the far post.
The deadlock broken just before the half hour when Kayikci burst through the backline, before rounding Anna Klink and rolling the ball into the open goal, but again Leverkusen came back at the hosts and Csiszár once again got in behind and put her shot inches wide.
Leverkusen’s hard work paid off after the hour when Frederike Kempe restored parity, first to the loose ball after Marina Hegering had done well to bring it down and loop it goalwards on the half-volley, with Laura Benkarth beaten the ball once again flew off of the bar but this time the team in possession were able to capitalise. The deadlock was however, short-lived and Lina Magull gave Freiburg the win just two minutes later, firing an absolute rocket from the left side of the box into the top right corner that left Klink with no chance. Leverkusen had once more chance and unfortunately for Csiszár it was a hat-trick of almosts as her powerful header looped over the top of the bar.
Turbine Potsdam 8-0 MSV Duisburg
Following two unconvincing wins, the table-topping Turbines made sure to sign off for the year in style with an 8-0 over Duisburg. The hosts got the ball rolling in the fifth minute when Tabea Kemme was found by Svenja Huth in the box, with Lena Nuding advancing the converted full-back finished like a seasoned pro to knock the ball into the waiting net. Potsdam made it two on the half hour when Huth turned from creator to scorer as she nipped through the centre to receive Felicitas Rauch’s through ball, carrying it round Nuding before rolling it into the gaping net.
It was all too easy for the hosts as Duisburg did themselves no favours, sloppy in possession, only encouraging an imperious Potsdam who were all too happy to accept the early Christmas presents from MSV. Kemme next to bag an assist as Rauch made it three, her arced run perfect to pick up Kemme’s ball, nutmegging Nuding on the way through. Although Duisburg did better at keeping the hosts at bay for the second-half when Rauch added a fourth – her turn and shoot cannoning in off of the far post after ping-pong around the box – it was the signal for the floodgates to open.
Anna Gasper made it five just three minutes later, popping up on the right side of the box to fire into the empty net after Nuding had dashed completely out of her box and hadn’t had time to fully get back. Five became six three minutes later, as Kemme became the second player to round of a brace, lashing the ball home from Huth’s cross after Duisburg failed to clear a corner. Anything Kemme and Rauch could do, so could Huth who was back on the scoresheet after rifling the ball home from outside the box, once again poor defending from the visitors the focal point but nothing could be taken away from the German international’s finish into the top corner.
Again it was only a matter of minutes before the Turbines notched again as hard-working midfielder Sarah Zadrazil opened her account for Potsdam. The last goal of the game an absolute peach from the Austria international, as she dug her shot out from 25 yards lopping it over the box as the ball came back down to Earth just inside of the bar, Nuding once again undone but little she could have done to stop her shot.
Already confirmed to be top over the break no matter the outcome, Potsdam signed off with a flourish, her goal difference with a heart boost but there can be no sugar-coating how easy Duisburg made it for them. The loss is a heavy one for MSV who had shown signs of improvement, a season not judged on 90 minutes.
FFC Frankfurt 3-1 SC Sand
The chances were coming thick a fast for the hosts but just as in recent games, they were coming up against roadblocks when it came to actually putting their chances away, the team on top but heading towards the break deadlocked Kathrin Hendrich provided the breakthrough two minutes before the half. Outside the box and rolling the ball from left to centre, Hendrich worked enough space to let fly, her shot curling around the defence before wrapping inside of the far post. Frankfurt doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time when current FBL top goalscorer, Mandy Islacker earned a slice of luck when her looped volley soared into the air and came down in a tight arc to slip inside of the top corner, Carina Schlüter helpless to stop it.
Frankfurt, in the mood to score special goals, made it three fifteen minutes from time, Islacker the perpetrator once again, more deliberate with her second goal. Picking up Jackie Groenen’s through ball outside of the box, the goal-getter dug her shot out to send the ball around the defence and into the far corner, for the third time, Schlüter powerless to stop the goal.
Diane Caldwell grabbed a late consolation for Sand as she nodded a late corner in at a the far post, the box bursting with both sets of players.