Bayern Munich defeated TSG Hoffenheim 3-1 on the road on Sunday to keep pace in this year’s exciting Frauen-Bundesliga title race.
Bayern was bright in attack at the start. Fluid combination play resulted in Giulia Gwinn’s near tap-in goal in the 7th minute; the right-back’s contact just taking it wide of goal. But failure to pounce early gave Hoffenheim an opening — and the home side took it to seize momentum.
Julia Hickelsberger latched on to a loose ball to fire a dangerous shot from range in the 22nd minute which was excellently palmed away by Ena Mahmutovic onto the frame of the goal. If that was a warning shot, the warning went unheeded: in the 25th minute Bayern was cut open by a series of touches in the final third and Dominika Grabowska fired home the game’s opening goal.
However, it’s not how you start a match but how you finish it. While Bayern conceded its fair share of chances, Hoffenheim did not score again — and Bayern fought back hard.
Klara Bühl delivered Bayern’s reply in the 34th minute after a flicked on header from Pernille Harder in the box to level the score. Then in the 71st minute, substitute Alara Șehitler finally found a breakthrough that was long coming in a beautiful show of teamwork — a vertical ball into space from Carolin Simon finding Klara Bühl in behind, Lea Schüller dummying on the cross and Şehitler pouncing at the far post to fire back to the near side.
In the 80th minute, Glódís Viggósdóttir played hero to scramble away another excellent Hoffenheim chance in the box. And Harder got herself the clincher in the 90th minute, finishing off the simplest of crosses from Lea Schüller that managed to slip through the defense.
An impressive performance in the end after a shaky start with strong displays in both attack and defense. Highlights below:
Meanwhile Eintracht Frankfurt showed no mercy in a 9-0 win over Turbine Potsdam, keeping pace and running up the goal differential. The Bavarians are level on points but trail 17 in GD (43 to 26).
Looking for more thoughts and discussion on Bayern Munich’s Champions League playoff round visit to Celtic FC? Awesome, because we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show, You can get the podcast on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
