Bayer 04 Leverkusen gave themselves a conciliatory end to the year. The team prevailed against MSV Duisburg with a committed performance.
At the end, the women from Bayer 04 Leverkusen took a deep breath – they had truly earned the Christmas break. Because the 4:1 (1:1) against MSV Duisburg on Friday evening (December 15, 2023) was extremely hard work. The Leverkusen team won the game because they were the more effective team. The Duisburg women offered a fight on equal terms for a long time, but were unable to assert themselves in the important moments.
The game had barely started when Leverkusen took the lead. KarólínaVilhjálmsdóttir beat an opponent in the Duisburg penalty area and hammered the ball into the net from around eleven meters to make it 1-0 (5th minute). The Icelander’s fifth goal of the season.
As a result, the hosts tried to score the second goal as quickly as possible and kept the pressure high. Paulina Bartz’ had the opportunity, her shot was just blocked after a corner (10th).
MSV women are becoming braver
The MSV women gave their first impulse on the offensive after 16 minutes. Attacker Julia Kappenberger suddenly appeared alone in front of Bayer goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, but was unable to push the ball past her.
Afterwards, the Leverkusen team tried again and again with long balls. The Duisburg team obviously had a hard time with it, but were able to prevent another goal. MSV continued to be combative and always had a few good offensive approaches.
Leverkusen’s Kögel hits the crossbar
Bayer 04 were the superior team in terms of play and had another great chance: Kristin Kögel tried from 30 meters away, but failed to hit the Duisburg crossbar (36′).
But the Duisburg team scored the next goal. After a corner, the MSV women were rewarded for their committed performance. Natalie Muth nodded the ball in to make it 1-1 (38th).
Surprising Bayer lead
The Duisburg women came out of the locker room highly motivated and took control of the game. After a Leverkusen free kick, MSV was able to counter via Kappenberger, but was too imprecise in the last pass (51′). Bayer goalkeeper Repohl had to use all her skills after 60 minutes to prevent another MSV goal from Yvonne Zielinski.
That’s why Leverkusen’s leadership came as a surprise in this phase. Kögel coldly converted a cross pass from Skinnes Hansen from twelve meters to give the team a 2-1 lead (62′). And just six minutes later the preliminary decision: scored after a corner Nikola Karczewska out of the crowd and from very close range to make it 3-1 (68th). Verena Wieder increased the score in stoppage time to make the final score 4-1 (90+4).
