FC Bayern claim crucial victory in Frankfurt

FC Bayern Women claimed a 2-1 win away at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to retain top spot in the Google Pixel Bundesliga table. Klara Bühl put the Munich ladies ahead in the first half before Laura Freigang levelled for the hosts midway through the second. Lea Schüller then grabbed the winner late on for the defending champions.

One change

Head coach Alexander Straus made just one change to the team that started the 3-0 win over Carl Zeiss Jena in the DFB Cup quarter-final on Tuesday, restoring Maria Luisa Grohs in goal in place of Anna Wellmann. It was the 22-year-old goalkeeper’s 60th outing for Bayern, while captain Glodis Perla Viggosdottir appeared for the club for the 90th time.

Dominant opening

The opening stages in Frankfurt very much belonged to Bayern, who had their first big chance inside four minutes when Giulia Gwinn played through Jovana Damnjanovic, who was denied by Stina Johannes in the Eintracht goal. Georgia Stanway had another attempt from range moments later but struck the woodwork. The visitors kept pushing as Schüller failed to turn in a dangerous Bühl cross.

It took Die Frauen 21 minutes to finally get their breakthrough when Pernille Harder burst into the box and crossed into the middle, where Bühl rose highest and headed home. Frankfurt started to get into the game more after the opening goal. Their best chance came from Freigang, whose header from close range luckily struck the crossbar just before the break.

Schüller grabs winner

The hosts upped the ante after the restart and frequently managed to get into the Bayern box, but captain Viggosdottir and her defence managed to prevent any good chances for now. It was some 20 minutes before the Munich ladies created a notable opportunity of their own, but the skipper was unable to turn Bühl’s free-kick towards goal. Eintracht then managed to level on the break as Freigang tapped in from close range.

After struggling to get going in the second half, Bayern then shifted up a gear and were quickly rewarded when Katharina Naschenweng’s cross picked out Schüller unmarked at the far post to plant home a header with 77 minutes gone. Bayern then held firm in the closing stages to claim all three points and their 12th win of this league campaign from 15 games.

Leipzig at home, Wolfsburg away

The Bundesliga leaders are next in action on Saturday, 16 March when RB Leipzig come to the FC Bayern Campus at 12:00 CET. The following week is the big one at the top as Bayern visit Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday, 23 March (17:45).