Short Handed Bayern Frauen Beat Werder Bremen | OneFootball

Bayern continued their perfect start to the season with a fourth consecutive win and their second clean sheet in the Frauen Bundesliga, despite a red card early in the second half.

This article written by Matthew Coates

Head Coach Alexander Straus made three changes to Bayern’s starting XI from their 5-1 win against Hoffenheim, with striker Lea Schuller replacing Jovana Damnjanovic, the Scottish midfielder Sam Kerr replacing the Austrian Sarah Zadrazil who missed out as a precaution, and Linda Sembrant returning after suspension to replace Carolin Simon in defence.

As a result of these changes, the versatile Norwegian defender Tuva Hansen returned to right back, and Germany captain Giulia Gwinn was tasked with left-back as opposed to her preferred right back position.

The Bayern XI was as follows:

Maria Luisa (Mala) Grohs (GK) – Tuva Hansen, Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir, Linda Sembrant, Giulia Gwinn – Sam Kerr, Georgia Stanway – Linda Dallmann, Pernille Harder, Klara Bühl – Lea Schüller

Werder Bremen came into the game in mixed form, after drawing, winning and losing their first three games respectively. Bayern, on the other hand, had won all of their league games (0-2 v Turbine Potsdam, 6-2 v RB Leipzig, 5-1 v Hoffenheim).

Comfortable First Half

Bayern began the match the better of the two teams, and could have gone ahead had it not been for an apparent offside on Captain Viggósdóttir’s tap in after a well worked set piece.

The absence of VAR in the Frauen Bundesliga means it is hard to judge whether the call was correct. Bayern continued to pepper the goal in following minutes, but without finding an opener.

In the 18th minute, Bremen came closest to opening the scoring from a powerful strike by Tuana Mahmoud that was pushed onto the crossbar by Bayern keeper Mala Grohs.

Bayern remained the more dominant side on the whole, and eventually made the breakthrough from a set piece in the 27th minute. A well-hit corner from German winger Bühl towards the back-post, where her German teammate Schüller was unmarked to hit a volley into the side netting for the lead (0-1).

The remaining 20 minutes in the first half saw little in the way of chances for either side, with Bayern remaining the better side in possession.

Action-Packed Second Half

Shortly after play resumed in the 52nd minute, Viggósdóttir was somewhat harshly sent off for a second yellow. After an errant pass from Bühl meant that the Centre Back made an arguably fair tackle, which she was ultimately punished for resulting in England midfielder Stanway taking on the captain’s armband.

Viggósdóttir has certainly been a rock for Bayern at the back since she signed in July 2021, and has been the Frauen captain since Lina Magull left for Inter Milan in January 2023.

She is often excellent, having recently been rewarded for her efforts with a nomination for the Women’s Ballon D’or, alongside Bayern teammates Giulia Gwinn and Lea Schüller.

After the red card, Bremen were understandably more attacking and came close to scoring an equaliser after a dangerous ball from Juliane Wirtz (Florian Wirtz’ sister) which led to a cutback but was well cleared by Gwinn. On this weekend, it seems neither Wirtz could inflict damage on Bayern.

In the 61st Minute, some unconvincing defending from Bayern after a Bremen set piece led to Mala Grohs being forced into making a crucial save to deny the equaliser.

The game was on a knife’s edge, and needed something special to make the difference. And something special certainly came in the 71st minute, in the form of a trademark Stanway rocket from outside of the box after some good work by Bühl on the left side. The shot was hit with such incredible power that left Bremen keeper Livia Peng powerless to prevent the ball reaching the back of the net (0-2).

Bremen responded by throwing players forward out of desperation, which ultimately led to their demise. They had some great chances, notably including a Sophie Weidauer volley that really should have ended up in a goal for the home side. But, less than a minute later, Bayern’s Sydney Lohmann, who had come on for Bühl, lofted a lovely ball into the path of Harder, who continued her excellent run of form by rounding the keeper and passing into an empty net (0-3).

Bayern continued to take advantage of the space left behind Bremen’s defence, as Damnjanovic, who replaced Schüller in the 64th minute, ran from just inside the opponent’s half into the box, shruged off a defender and chiped the keeper to make it 0-4.

A longshot from Bremen in added time was the final chance of the game, and it means that Bayern kept their second league clean sheet of the season (they kept 15 last season!).

Bayern Stay Top

The importance of this win in adverse conditions would soon become clear, as eternal rivals Wolfsburg lost 3-0 away to Eintracht Frankfurt, meaning Bayern’s primary challengers for the league title have already fallen 5 points behind. As a result, Bayern remain 2 points clear of both Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt at the summit of the Frauen Bundesliga table.

In other positive Bayern Frauen news, Summer 2023 acquisition Ana María Guzmán made her return to the pitch following a lengthy injury for the Colombian teenager, and recent free-transfer signing Magou Doucouré made her Bayern debut, both in the 2nd division for Bayern II in a 3-0 loss to Union Berlin.

They are both expected to be part of the first team this season, so it is good to see them get some minutes in a Bayern shirt regardless of the result. With some tough fixtures on the horizon, they may well play their part soon. Next up, Bayern will play host to Köln on Saturday 5th October.