FCB Women remain top after win at Köln

FC Bayern Women stand at the top of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga following a 3-0 victory at 1. FC Köln on Sunday afternoon. In front of a crowd of 35,711 at the RheinEnergieStadion, Caro Simon (8'), Pernille Harder (31') and Sydney Lohmann (55') scored the all-important goals.

The win sees the Munich girls reclaim top spot with 41 points, followed by Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg, who both have 38 points on the board.

Straus: 'We dominated'

"We had complete control from start to finish and played well, but certainly could've scored more goals," said head coach Alexander Straus at full time. "We dominated and controlled as we wanted. There were also moments when we got a bit sloppy, though. We can't afford that in the next games against Wolfsburg and Lyon because there we'll get punished. It was great to play in front of 35,000 people here. Now we look ahead to the upcoming games."

Zadrazil back in squad

Glódís Viggósdóttir was unable to make the trip to Cologne because of a knee issue, while Magou Doucouré was not yet fit enough to return to action. Straus was also without long-term absentees Lena Oberdorf (knee ligaments), Katharina Naschenweng (knee joint) and Georgia Stanway (knee ligaments) for this match, but midfielder Sarah Zadrazil returned to the squad after she was forced to withdraw from the Austrian national team during the international break

Early lead

Straus' side seized the initiative from the beginning and were rewarded for their early pressure after just eight minutes, Simon firing in the opening goal from the edge of the penalty area. The majority of the action continued to take place in the Köln half. In the 31st minute, Klara Bühl got in down the left side and delivered a precise cross to Harder, who headed in her team's second goal of the day and her ninth goal of the campaign. Bühl and Momoko Tanikawa had further chances before the first half was up, but their efforts were fended off by the hosts' goalkeeper Aurora Mikalsen, keeping the score at 2-0 at the break.

Assured second half

FCB Women continued to dictate the game after the restart. In the 55th minute, a precise cross from Bühl created the next dangerous situation and Lohmann rose high in the penalty area to head in the third goal. The hosts continued to struggle against the German champions and only rarely made headway towards the Bayern box. All the genuine opportunities remained for Bayern but they were unable to extend their lead. In the 86th minute, substitute Alara Şehitler narrowly missed the target with a powerful long-distance strike, and so it ended in a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win for FC Bayern Women.

Top-of-the-table clash and Champions League cracker

After the trip to Cologne, a huge week is ahead for FC Bayern Women with two crunch matches. On Friday 14 March, they host third-placed Wolfsburg in the marquee clash in the Bundesliga. Kick-off at the FC Bayern Campus is at 16:55 CET. Four days later, on Tuesday 18 March, it's the first leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final against Olympique Lyon. Kick-off against the French record champions is at 21:00 CET at the Campus.