The She-Wolves suffered a setback on Matchday 12 of the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga after being held to a 1-1 draw away to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. VfL were dominant from the outset at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, and although they took the lead through Alexandra Popp (37’), they were unable to make the most of a number of other clear-cut chances in the first half.
The Green-and-Whites were made to pay after the break when Marina Hegering was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 72nd minute. From the resulting free-kick, Emilie Bragstad equalised for Leverkusen, leaving the She-Wolves to digest a disappointing 1-1 draw.
After back-to-back away games, VfL Women have a big home match to look forward to when they host Eintracht Frankfurt at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday 11 February (kick-off 14:00 CET). The vociferous home support will be needed to cheer on their team as they seek three points in the title race.
Goals
- 0-1 Popp (37’): A mistake from Leverkusen goalkeeper Friederike Repohl leads to VfL opening the scoring: a mis-hit clearance lands at the feet of Sveindis Jonsdottir on the right, and she delivers a pinpoint cross into the box for Popp. The Wolfsburg captain heads home in typically clinical fashion.
- Bragstad (73’): Leverkusen are awarded a free-kick after Hegering fouls Nikola Karczewska. Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir takes the set-piece and curls it into the middle, where the ball hits Bragstad’s shin and bounces into the goal.
Reaction
Tommy Stroot: “The red card for Marina Hegering and the equalising goal straight after that were the key moments in the game. We squandered lots of chances, which is frustrating. The draw hurts a lot, we’ve dropped two points here.”
Line-ups and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Frohms – Wilms, Hegering, Janssen, Rabano (82‘ Wedemeyer) – Huth, Oberdorf (82‘ Brand), Hagel (75‘ Lattwein) – Jonsdottir (64‘ Endemann), Popp (64‘ Kalma), Pajor
Subs: Schmitz, Xhemaili, Brand, Brinkmann
Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Repohl – Ostermeier, Turanyi (26‘ Friedrich), Bragstad, Matysik (46‘ Siems) – Senß – Hansen (87‘ Merino Gonzalez), Vilhjalmsdottir, Kögel, Bender (64‘ Johansen) – Karczewska
Subs: Voll, Bartz, Jorde, Zdebel, Wieder
Goals: 0-1 Popp (37‘), 1-1 Bragstad (73‘)
Yellow card: - / Oberdorf
Second yellow card: Hegering
Referee: Dr. Riem Hussein (Bad Harzburg)
Attendance: 1,755 at Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, Leverkusen
