FC Bayern Women into DFB Cup semi-finals

FC Bayern Women claimed a 3-0 win away at Carl Zeiss Jena in the DFB Cup quarter-final on Tuesday to book their place in the final four. Pernille Harder put the Munich ladies ahead inside 12 minutes. Jovana Damnjanović doubled the advantage only two minutes later, before getting her second and Bayern’s third just before half-time to wrap up the scoring. Bayern will discover their semi-final opponents later in the evening.

Three changes

Alexander Straus made three changes to the team that beat Essen 2-0 in the Bundesliga before the international break. Maria Luisa Grohs, Sydney Lohmann and Linda Dallmann dropped to the bench, with Anna Wellmann, Georgia Stanway and Damnjanović coming into the side. Katharina Naschenweng made her 20th competitive appearance for the club.

Two early strikes

It wasn’t long into the game when the ball first found the back of the Jena net, but Damnjanović was flagged offside with just three minutes on the clock. Bayern were ahead 10 minutes later, though, when Naschenweng on the left crossed for Harder. The Dane was free at the far and powered home the opener with her head. It turned into a quickfire double for Die Frauen as Sarah Zadrazil slipped in Damnjanović, with the Serbian slotting away.

Things calmed after that until the half-hour mark when Harder put away what she thought was her brace. However, the strike was again chalked off for offside. Bayern’s third finally came three minutes before the break when Damnjanović rose highest at the near post to head in a Klara Bühl corner.

Comfortable second half

The game continued in a similar vein after the restart as Bayern attacked up against a focused Jena defence. It was around a quarter of an hour until the visitors created their first big chance of the second half when Damnjanović laid off to Lea Schüller, but her shot on the spin was turned around the post with an excellent diving stop by goalkeeper Jasmin Janning. Linda Sembrant had a further opportunity to add a fourth from a corner, but again Janning was in the right spot for the hosts as it remained 3-0 to Bayern come the final whistle in Jena.

Big game in Frankfurt

Straight from reaching the final four of the cup, Bayern are back in action on Saturday with a visit to title rivals Eintracht Frankfurt. Kick-off at the Stadion am Brentanobad is at 1pm CET. The following week sees RB Leipzig come to the FC Bayern Campus on Saturday, 16 March (12pm).