The scoreline reflected the gap between the two teams in the standings as the VfL Wolfsburg women won 8-0 at home to Gladbach, who are cut adrift at the foot of the Allianz Women’s Bundesliga. The result keeps the She-Wolves in first place, ahead of FC Bayern München on goal difference. In a one-sided encounter watched by 1,694 fans at the AOK Stadion, Alexandra Popp (3), Caroline Hansen (2), Katharina Baunach, Noelle Maritz and Ewa Pajor scored the goals for Stephan Lerch’s side.
The Green-Whites will be back at their home stadium on Wednesday for the crucial UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyon (kick-off 18:15 CET), a game they know they need to win in order to overturn a 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Another big knockout match follows on Sunday 31 March, with the She-Wolves travelling to Bayern in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup (kick-off 15:30 CEST) looking to reach another final.
“Kept the tempo high”
VfL head coach Stephan Lerch: “Our objective today was to dominate from the start and produce a confident performance with a good result – all in all we did that. The players were on it from the first minute and kept the tempo high right until the final whistle. We wanted to score lots of goals and we stressed that at half-time. We could’ve even scored a couple more, but perhaps we lacked a bit of determination in some situations. It’s not always easy to find a way through against teams who set up so defensively. Every player today justified their place, which gives us a positive feeling going into the upcoming challenges.”
VfL Wolfsburg: Schult – Blässe, Fischer (Doorsoun 62’), Wedemeyer, Maritz – Baunach – Wolter, Hansen (Harder 67’), Popp (Pajor 67’), Minde – Masar
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Venrath – Fürst (van Heeswyk 52’), Schenk, Starmanns, Dallmann, Corres – Wahlen (Petri 75’), Bogenschütz, Kufner, Evels – Oppedisano (Abu Sabbah 67’)
Goals: 1-0 Popp (19’), 2-0 Hansen (36’), 3-0 Hansen (40’), 4-0 Baunach (58’), 5-0 Popp (61’), 6-0 Popp (64’), 7-0 Maritz (66’), 8-0 Pajor (75’)
Yellow cards: Dallmann, Schenk
Attendance: 1,694 at AOK Stadion
Referee: Franziska Wildfeuer (Seeretz)
