On the 17th matchday of the women’s Bundesliga, neither SGS Essen nor Bayer 04 Leverkusen presented any brilliant ideas on the offensive.
The clubs played in a goalless draw on Sunday (March 24, 2024). The two clubs remain in their positions in the women’s Bundesliga table: SGS is still in sixth place (23 points), Leverkusen is still in fifth place (25).
17th matchday arrow right
Leverkusen with more forward momentum than Essen
The first half didn’t offer too many highlights. In the first few minutes, the fans in the stands of the Essen stadium saw a rather quiet start, with both teams showing a focus on safety. Offensive scenes remained without great danger. The Essen team lacked speed and precision in the direct game and could barely get through against Leverkusen, who were well organized defensively.
Bayer women triumph in the derby arrow right Women’s BL: Essen with zero number in Bremen arrow right
The Bayer footballers, on the other hand, tried their luck several times and managed to achieve several goals. However, the attempts all flew past the goal of SGS goalkeeper Sophia Winkler. At least it was closer with Sylwia Matysik’s header (14th) – and Janou Levels missed a cross by one step (34th).
Ostermeier clears on the line, Enderle narrowly misses
In the second half there was a brief moment of shock on the Essen side: Laura Pucks almost took away the Leverkusen team’s goal-scoring and hit it into her own net. While trying to clear a cross, the ball bounced just wide of the goal (51′).
Senß leaves Bayer 04 Leverkusen arrow right
Ten minutes later things got tricky again. One of Leverkusen’s many crosses found Lilla Turanyi’s head, but Essen’s Lena Ostermeier made a last-ditch clearance off the line (61′). The “Werkself” worked diligently to take the lead, but Kristin Kögel also missed her attempt at the empty goal after a misunderstanding between Essen goalkeeper Winkler and Jacqueline Meißner (70th).
And then the SGS almost celebrated: Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Friederike Repohl sailed under a corner, Essen’s Annika Enderle narrowly maneuvered the ball past with her knee (85th). But it remained a goalless draw.
SGS is fighting for the DFB Cup final in Wolfsburg
There is now a two-week break in the women’s Bundesliga. The semi-finals of the DFB Cup will take place on the Easter weekend. SGS Essen knocked out Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals at the beginning of March and can now fight for a place in the final against top favorites VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 1 p.m.).
Due to the subsequent international break, league operations will not continue until mid-April. Leverkusen will then host Eintracht Frankfurt (Saturday, April 13th, 2 p.m.). And the SGS has to compete against 1. FC Nürnberg (Sunday, April 14th, 2 p.m.).
MSV Duisburg on course for the second division after losing the basement duel Arrow right
