Compared to the 2-1 home win against TSG Hoffenheim, Pätzold had made one change to his side. Left-back Janou Levels returned to the starting XI following suspension, while her replacement Juliette Vidal started on the bench. Loreen Bender, who had made her maiden league appearance against Hoffenheim after taking part in the U20 World Cup, was ruled out due to groin problems.
The Werkself got off to a strong start. Sofie Zdebel tested goalkeeper Mariella El Sherif from distance for the first time after just two minutes. The visitors, still looking for a win after the first four games, focused on defending in the early stages and pressed hard to create space, which meant there were no further opportunities for the Black & Reds to take an early lead.
Centre-back Toma Ihlenburg missed a free header from close range after a corner which would have put the visitors ahead (22'). While Leverkusen continued to dominate the game, Jena looked to counter-attack. Shortly before the break, El Sherif was perfectly placed to save a shot on the turn from Kristin Kögel. The teams headed into the break all-square.
At the break, Pätzold made a change on the wing: Vidal came on for the injured Synne Skinnes Hansen and moved to left-back, with Levels switching to the right. The first big chance went to the visitors: Luca Birkholz struck the inside of the post with a powerful low shot from the edge of the penalty area(47'). Jena continued to defend with discipline and Bayer 04 Women now tried to attack more from the flanks.
On the hour mark, Caroline Kehrer narrowly missed connecting with a delivery from Vidal in the centre. In this phase too, the visitors repeatedly broke free and skilfully made things tight. It came down to a set piece to give the Werkself the lead: After a Cornelia Kramer free-kick from the right, Kögel laid the ball back to Piljic, who hit it at full pelt and smashed it under the crossbar (69').
Pätzold then brought on a fresh striker in Estrella Merino Gonzalez (for Kehrer) (71'). A short time later, Friederike Repohl and Lilla Turanyi combined to prevent the equaliser. Goalkeeper Repohl got a hand to substitute Hannah Lehmann's shot and centre-back Turanyi cleared off the line (78'). The Leverkusen coach responded to the increasing pressure from the visitors with a double substitution, with Shen Menglu and Vanessa Haim caming on for Kögel and Vilhjalmsdottir (83'). In the closing stages, the Black & Reds kept looking for opportunities to make sure of the win, while Jena pressed in vain.
Leverkusen's next away trip will take them to a men's Bundesliga stadium: the match at SV Werder Bremen will take place at the Weserstadion on Saturday, 12 October (14:00 CEST). The two subscription-based streaming providers MagentaSport and DAZN will broadcast the match live in Germany.
The stats:
Bayer 04: Repohl - Skinnes Hansen (46' Vidal), Ostermeier, Turanyi, Levels - Piljic, Zdebel - Vilhjalmsdottir (83' Haim), Kögel (83' Menglu) - Kramer, Kehrer (71' Merino Gonzalez)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena: El Sherif - Sträßer, Ihlenburg, Heuschkel, Juckel - Gaißer (79' Mesch), Julevic, Woldmann (57' Gentile) - Bonsu, Birkholz (71' Lehmann), Reuter
Goal: 1-0 Piljic (69')
Yellow cards: - Gaißer, Reuter
Referee: Anna-Lena Heidenreich (Bad Schwartau)
Spectators: 464 at Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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