Successful end to the year: FCB Women win Rückrunde opener in Leverkusen

• League leaders at the end of the year
• Undefeated going into the winter break
• Harder, Tanikawa and Stanway score

An away win to end the year: FC Bayern Women have extended their impressive run! Coach José Barcala's team celebrated a 3-0 (1-0) win at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Monday evening in the first match of the second half of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season. It was the Munich side's 11th consecutive win, meaning the defending champions end 2025 as unbeaten leaders with 40 points from 14 games. Franziska Kett opened the scoring for Bayern Women in the 16th minute in front of 3,011 spectators at the sold-out Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. After the break, Momoko Tanikawa doubled the lead from the spot on 75 minutes, before Georgia Stanway added a third with another penalty in the 86th-minute.

Barcala: "We have to stay calm"

"It was exactly the game we expected. We knew from our experience in the first game that they press one-on-one. We struggled at first to find our game and our precision," said Barcala after the match. "But the good thing is that we didn't give them many chances and we won. We're happy we have a six-point lead at this stage, but we need to stay calm and continue to take each game as it comes."

Narrow half-time lead

From the outset, it was an open contest with both teams looking to attack. In the 16th minute, Pernille Harder made a strong run down the left wing and found Jovana Damnjanović in the centre, who passed to Kett who'd gone deep. The Germany international didn't think twice and smashed the ball into the net to give her side a much-celebrated 1-0 lead. Shortly afterwards, Harder had the chance to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot after a foul by Lilla Turányi in the box, but Friederike Repohl made a strong save. And so Bayern went in at the break with a narrow lead.

Two penalties in the second half

After the break, the picture was much the same as in the first half. Although both teams boldly got forward, clear-cut chances were few and far between for long periods. Just after the restart, a cross from Damnjanović (53') landed on top of the goal. Eight minutes later, Linda Dallmann had a go with a strike from a tight angle, but wasn't able to seriously trouble Repohl.

Tanikawa was more accurate in the 75th minute and doubled the lead from the penalty spot. Stanway finally wrapped up the score in the 86th minute, also with a penalty, after a handball in the box. Shortly before the end, there was some bad news for the visitors, as Katharina Naschenweng, who had come on as a substitute shortly beforehand, had to be taken off after suffering a knock.

Winter break and home game against Leipzig

With the last game of the year done and dusted, the reigning double winners will take a well-deserved winter break and recharge their batteries for the second half of the season. The action continues on Sunday, 25 January, with a home game against RB Leipzig. Kick-off is at 18:30 CET at the FC Bayern Campus stadium.