After two months away the Frauen-Bundesliga finally returned from its winter slumber this month, Frankfurt and Wolfsburg the biggest movers as the bottom teams scrapped two draws in the twelfth match week.
USV Jena 1-2 VfL Wolfsburg
Despite a number of chances in the first-half, Wolfsburg were unable to find a way around Kathrin Längert and trailed the hosts after a superb driven effort from Lucie Voňková that beat Almuth Schult at her near post. Very nearly beaten by Voňková again ten minutes later, Schult and Wolfsburg settled back down and restored parity just after the hour when Nilla Fischer was first to react to Tessa Wullaert looped cross to prod it past Längert. Fischer the hero on the road for the Wolves as she snatched a second four minutes later, rising to meet Alex Popp’s dinked ball to give the visitors three hard-fought points.
SC Freiburg 2-3 Bayern München
Taking the lead four minutes in through Melanie Behringer’s driven free kick, Munich looked to be cruising in Freiburg before the hosts pulled a goal back through Carolin Simon, the wily full-back’s smooth dummy enough to work some space before firing her shot past Manuela Zinsberger. With the game having opened up over the course of the half it was Munich who blasted out of the blocks again after the break, taking the lead once more at a Behringer set piece four minutes into the half as her neat delivery found Vivianne Miedema for the prolific Dutch international to nod over Laura Benkarth.
With it all to do again, Lena Petermann restored parity just after the hour as she sent her close-range header just inside of the post at a scrappy corner. The lead was however short-lived as yet another free kick was sent in by Behringer, Nora Holstad the Bavarian to find the winner as she rose well to meet the aerial ball. The game not without drama as the hosts threw away a golden chance to draw level for a third time as Carolin Schiewe saw her penalty comfortably saved by Zinsberger.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-2 FFC Frankfurt
On top from the outset, a combination of last-ditch defending and poor finishing kept the sides deadlocked until the half hour when Ana-Maria Crnogorčević floated cross was well met by Mandy Islacker to nod into the hungry net. Islacker added a second just seven minutes later when she swept the ball into bottom corner beyond the reach of Christina Bellinghoven. Continuing to knock on the door until the last, Frankfurt season-long problem of failing to take their chances persisted as they were held at 2-0, although the win has taken them back into the top five.
VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 SC Sand
It took just three minutes for Wolfsburg to get off the mark against Sand as they looked to regain the second spot on the table, Tessa Wullaert’s lofted cross to the back-post easily met by Lara Dickenmann to nod the hosts in front. For the second, Wullaert went from creator to poacher as she arrived at the back post to send the ball tumbling into the net after Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir had seen her shot saved on the opposite side of goal.
The home side’s dominance continued to tell after the break when Claire Savin was left red-faced after her attempted clearance, to stop Gunnarsdóttir from getting a tap-in, slammed into the roof of Carina Schlüter’s net. But there was still time for the Icelandic international to get her goal as she met Pernille Harder’s delicate cross unmarked in the centre of the goal, the net left to bulge for the fourth time.
Well out of the game there was still time for Sand to grab a late consolation when Nina Burger latched onto Dominika Škorvánková’s through ball before firing past Almuth Schult to rob the German number one of her clean sheet.
SGS Essen 1-1 MSV Duisburg
An open game from the get-go both sides saw chances fly wide and be closed down before Lara Heß broke the deadlock ten minutes from the end of the first-half. Using a deft foot to bring down Kathleen Radtke looped pass, and carry it away from her marker Heß blasted the ball past the Lisa Weiß but Heß could do no more for her side and was substituted five minutes before half-time.
Unable to hold onto their lead for more than seven minutes of the second-half, Duisburg were pegged back by the hosts when Irini Ioannidou back-heeled the ball into the net at the near-post after a strong run from Kirsten Nesse to feed the attacker. The goal not without controversy as the ball appeared to cross the deadball line before finding Ioannidou. A keen contest until the last, Lena Nuding did well to deny Linda Dallmann at the death as both hunted for a last-gasp winner.
USV Jena 1-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
The hosts took the lead twelve minutes in when Julia Arnold whipped in a free kick that was well met by Amber Hearn though Anna Klink did well to keep the initial effort out, her defence could only clear as far as Lina Hausicke who powered her header into the waiting net. After Dolores Silva had a goal ruled out for outside in a busy second-half, Merle Barth sent her spot kick beyond Kathrin Längert after Marie-Luise Herrmann had been felled in the area.
The draw a fair result for the teams keen to put real daylight between themselves as the bottom of the table.
