The ball is finally rolling again in the women’s Bundesliga! After a two-month break, three victories were to be admired on the 11th matchday: SGS Essen beat 1. FC Köln 4-0, and table leaders VfL Wolfsburg won at SC Freiburg by the same amount. TSG Hoffenheim even defeated MSV Duisburg 7-0 (!). These clear successes are also reflected in the top eleven. There are two from Essen, three from Wolfsburg and three from Hoffenheim. In addition, a Bremen, a Frankfurt and a Meppener made it into the Team of the Week
TW: Laura winner (SV Meppen) – Eintracht Frankfurt struggled offensively against Meppen, the 1-0 win was closer than coach Niko Arnautis would have liked. This was due to the well-known Frankfurt problems – too little variability, instead flank after flank – but also to the strong Meppen goalkeeper Laura Sieger. Sieger kept putting off the Frankfurt attackers, parrying very well in the 17th minute against Géraldine Reuteler’s shot from close range, with a foot defense against Anyomi or in the fray after corners. The culmination of a strong performance came in the 55th minute when she was able to hold on to Freigang’s poorly taken penalty. Lara Prasnikar’s finish, placed right off the post, didn’t stand a chance. In Meppen’s fight to stay in the league, she will remain an important trump card and strong support.
RV: Beke Sterner (SGS Essen) – Essen inspired the 4-0 win against FC Köln with fast-paced combinations and perfect timing. With that, the SGS set an important exclamation point in the relegation battle and set itself apart from the competition from Duisburg and Bremen. Precisely because Bremen followed suit with a 2-0 lead, the clear victory was important in retrospect. Right-back Beke Sterner played a decisive part in this with her first goal of the season, after a free kick from Kowalski she kept calm in front of Jasmin Pal’s goal. Sterner took on an offensive role as a full-back, played nine passes in the last third and combined well with Endemann. Defensively, with a solid performance, she played her part in the fact that Islacker, Zawistowska and Co. saw no land.
IV: Jana Feldkamp (TSG Hoffenheim) – It really doesn’t happen every day that a central defender scores two goals. This is exactly the feat that Hoffenheim’s Jana Feldkamp managed to beat MSV Duisburg 7-0. Defensively, the 24-year-old had everything under control, she first scored in front with a nice direct acceptance, only to initiate the goal three minutes later to make it 2-0 with an important pre-assist. After half an hour, Feldkamp made the preliminary decision early and put together the brace. Six months before the World Cup, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg should have registered the performance of the 15-time national player.
IV: Marina Hegering (VfL Wolfsburg) – Freiburg started with a big chest and had one of the strongest offensives in the league in the first half of the season. Against Wolfsburg, however, the team from Breisgau hardly managed any dangerous offensive actions, apart from a few long-range shots, hardly anything flew into the box of ex-SCF goalkeeper Merle Frohms. That was also due to Marina Hegering, who, as head of defense, literally led the way and often nipped counterattacks in the bud. Hegering once again demonstrated her good anticipation and header power, and she was also resistant to the otherwise very effective Freiburg pressing. Hegering’s appearance once again poses the question for coach Tommy Stroot as to how he wants to set up his defense for the important games of the season. The Hegering-Janssen duo worked well, but with Kathy Hendrich on the right, they lacked the offensive drive that Lynn Wilms of the Netherlands brings with them. But leaving Hendrich out altogether isn’t an option Stroot likes either. He is now spoiled for choice between three very good central defenders.
LV: Felicitas Rauch (VfL Wolfsburg) – The game against Freiburg suited left-back Felicitas Rauch, who was able to play to her strengths to the full. Rauch was able to postpone the defensive work against the largely harmless Freiburg women, but was still there for the counter-attacks and raised the alarm with Svenja Huth and Sveindis Jonsdottir up front. Rauch showed off her offensive skills that suggest she might not be a bad winger either. She showed great technique in several scenes, for example in the 31st minute when she passed with the heel, or in the 37th minute with a nice chip ball. The left-back obviously enjoyed attacking, with her lively actions she always drove Wolfsburg on and made the game fast again and again.
DM: Tanja Pawollek (Eintracht Frankfurt) – Eintracht won 1-0 away in Meppen. In front of the defense, captain Tanja Pawollek proved as usual to be a reliable clearer, who diligently fills in the gaps and keeps her offensive colleagues free. The 24-year-old was also instrumental in scoring the winning goal against the Emsland women. Her perfectly timed long ball landed right on the foot of Laura Freigang, who passed the ball straight to Lara Prasnikar. She sank the leather confidently in the left corner.
LM: Nina Lührssen (Werder Bremen) – Werder Bremen finally scored the first three on matchday 11. Outside track player Lena Lührßen played a key role in this, as she made excellent use of a pass from Reena Wichmann shortly before the break. Lührßen took Wichmann’s cross with his chest and gave Leverkusen’s keeper Friederike Repohl no chance with a dropkick. “I really wanted to score that goal. I managed the shot very well,” explained the 23-year-old after the game. There is nothing to add.
RM: Julia Hickelsberger (TSG Hoffenheim) – During the winter break, Hoffenheim’s Julia Hickelsberger was voted Austria’s footballer of the year. At the weekend, the fast right winger showed why. Against MSV Duisburg, she first converted a cross from compatriot Katharina Naschenweng to make it 2-0, before she put the lid on it two minutes before the end and made it 7-0. All in all, the fourth goal of the season for the 23-year-old, who moved from St. Pölten to Kraichgau in the summer.
OM: Natasha Kowalski (SGS Essen) – The SGS is known as a talent factory in the Bundesliga, and that it will stay that way was underlined by the performance against Cologne. Striker Vivien Endemann, who repeatedly made the Cologne defenders sweat with her speed, will certainly be on the notepads of some scouts. The same applies to Natasha Kowalski, who again showed her excellent vision against Cologne. Kowalski played great through balls several times, from the second to the 88th minute. Her perfectly hit free kick led to Sterner making it 2-0, a nice pass to Endemann’s 3-0. As in the 6-0 win against Duisburg before the winter break, she pulled the strings in midfield and made the game fast.
ST: Nicole Billa (TSG Hoffenheim) – The third Hoffenheim player to make the top eleven is Nicole Billa. The Bundesliga top scorer from the 2020/21 season didn’t always have it easy in the first half of the season. Billa had to sit on the bench four times and only scored two goals before the Duisburg game. The Austrian was able to double her haul against the Zebras and, like Jana Feldkamp and Julia Hickelsberger, tied up a brace. If TSG wants to achieve their goal of participating in the Champions League, Billa is welcome to continue like this.
ST: Ewa Pajor (VfL Wolfsburg) – Who should stop Ewa Pajor? Whether Bayern, Frankfurt or Rome, nobody can stop the 26-year-old. The Freiburg defensive didn’t succeed either, which often could only look behind the fast and fluid combinations. The scene in the 4th minute, when Ewa Pajor sensed a gap on the left and was sent with a long ball, is symbolic of this. And already the Freiburg back four was levered out, Pajor was up and away and the ball was in the goal a few seconds later. Pajor used her speed perfectly in the scene and finished casually, her ball control and low center of gravity make her very difficult to stop. After two seasons plagued by injuries, Poland’s Footballer of the Year is back at her top level, as she did in 2019/20 when she broke through with 16 goals and 11 assists. She could literally surpass these values this season, and with nine goals Pajor is well on the way there. Against Freiburg, she again showed herself to be a selfless team player, put in good shots several times and played beautiful through balls.
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