On Matchday 16 of the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, VfL Wolfsburg’s U20 Women suffered a bitter defeat. In a hard-fought contest, the Green-Whites were beaten 3-2 (1-1) by FC Bayern München II. The Munich side climbed to 10th, while the Young Wolves slipped to 11th on 16 points.
Double lead not enough
The Lower Saxony side made the better start: after a through ball from Freyja Landrö, Weronika Arasniewicz kept her nerve, beat Bayern goalkeeper Anna Klink one-on-one and slotted home for a 1-0 lead (19th minute). However, the response from the Munich team did not take long. Following a corner, Elira Terakaj made it 1-1 (25). Shortly before the break, Anny-Kerim Lindland had the chance to put VfL back in front but narrowly missed, meaning it remained 1-1 at half-time.
At the start of the second half, the opponents had a huge chance from close range to regain the upper hand. VfL goalkeeper Nelly Smolarczyk produced an outstanding save to keep it at 1-1. In the 75th minute, the U20 Women took the lead again when Hitomi Yamaue turned Anny-Kerim Lindland’s cross into the net. However, the Young Wolves were unable to see out the 2-1 advantage. Munich then struck twice: Elira Terakaj’s second (78) and a goal from Laila Portella (84) sealed the 3-2 final score.
“It’s very annoying”
Assistant coach Philipp Schumann said after the defeat: “We worked our way well into the game and then score from a good transition moment to take an early lead. It’s all the more annoying that we concede straight afterwards and lose aggression and our defensive organisation in the second half.” The Lower Saxony side had also recently been narrowly beaten by SV Meppen and SC Sand. “It’s very annoying that once again we have a game where we’re in front and then let it slip out of our hands at the end. Ultimately, we deny ourselves our reward because mentally we’re not there,” Schumann emphasised.
The table situation
“Of course we’re aware of the current situation in the table, and we know we shouldn’t have let the game go. But you also have to bear in mind that in the second half of the season we’ve already played against the team in second and third place,” said Schumann. “Looking at the remaining fixtures, we have to take our points. Nonetheless, we view the development of the youngsters independently of the result.” The U20 Women’s next chance to pick up points comes on Sunday, 15 February (kick-off at 2pm) when they host VfL Bochum at the Elsterweg.
