Lead extended! FCB Women win comfortably at Wolfsburg

FC Bayern Women won 4-0 in the top-of-the-table clash in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga at VfL Wolfsburg to extend their lead at the top to seven points. After a goalless first half, Pernille Harder put the Munich girls in front shortly after the restart. Klara Bühl scored directly from a corner to make it 2-0, before Lea Schüller and Georgia Stanway sealed a comfortable away victory in the final quarter of an hour in front of a crowd of 24,437 spectators at the Volkswagen Arena, which included a sizeable Bayern contingent.

Unchanged team

Head coach Alexander Straus kept faith with the same starting XI as in the 5-0 home win over RB Leipzig. Jovana Damnjanović, who was forced off in last week's game, was fit enough to start.

Even first half

FCB Women started brightly in Lower Saxony and troubled VfL goalkeeper Merle Frohms after just four minutes. After Bühl was blocked at the last moment, the ball came to Giulia Gwinn, whose dangerous cross hit the crossbar. Bayern had their first scare 10 minutes later, when Sveindis Jonsdottir shot wide of the left post one-on-one against Mala Grohs.

There was little between the two sides at this point and around half an hour had been played until Bayern had the next opportunity, but Harder's long-range effort sailed over the goal. The Dane had another attempt moments later, the ball going wide this time. Schüller then could've broken the deadlock, but the striker was denied from 15 metres by an excellent reflex save by Frohms.

Early double strike in second half

However, the second half was only two minutes old when the visitors were celebrating. Bayern countered from a Wolfsburg corner via Bühl and the winger threaded the ball through for Harder, who shifted the ball onto her left foot before firing in the opening goal from 10 metres. And 10 minutes later, the Bavarians doubled their lead after another high-speed attack involving Harder and Bühl resulted in a corner. Bühl aimed directly for goal and the ball dropped into the net without anyone touching it, making it 2-0 to the league leaders.

With a two-goal cushion, Bayern continued to attack with courage and were rewarded as the contest entered the final 15 minutes. Harder played a sumptous pass into the path of Schüller, who kept her cool in front of Frohms and slotted in the third goal. It was Stanway, making her 60th competitive appearance for FCB, who provided the finishing touch, with her deflected shot from distance making it 4-0 and rounding off an emphatic win.

Cup semi-final on Easter Sunday

FCB Women face another big game next weekend, when they meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup on Easter Sunday, 31 March. Kick-off at the FC Bayern Campus is at 15:45 CEST. The next league game is on Sunday 14 April, when Straus' side visit MSV Duisburg (18:30 CEST).