by Olaf Goldbecker
Like last week, only two games were played due to the U20 World Cup. Nonetheless, these two games were interesting and delivered surprises. Both home teams played in new stadiums by the way:
SG Essen-Schönebeck v 1.FFC Frankfurt 3:1 (1:0)
As mentioned in OGM’s season preview: Essen is a real team without stars except for veteran Melanie Hoffmann as the engine for the game, while Frankfurt is the opposite – lots of individuals with quality but no real team and lacking striker quality. Exactly this was seen in the match yesterday. Frankfurt was superior but they had a high turnover rate and no scoring touch, while Essen had Hoffmann and a good team performance. Hoffmann scored the lead midway thru the first half, Frankfurt required a hand ball penalty kick to equalize by Melanie Behringer after about an hour. The assumption that Frankfurt would now turn it around was wrong, again Hoffmann cared for the lead for her team just minutes afterwards. In minute 72 Charline Hartmann scored the final goal of the game in Essen’s new stadium, which mainly is designed for the men’s team RW Essen and fits 20,640.
FSV Gütersloh v VfL Sindelfingen 4:0 (1:0)
The two newly promoted teams met in the brand new Tönnies Arena, a small but high quality stadium, which fits 4,250 and was just opened last week. Officially 1,315 watched the first ever Bundesliga match of the local team. For both teams it was a key game for the season as both are expected at the bottom of the standings. The start was nervous from both sides, but Gütersloh overcame this earlier and was rewarded. A good cross by former Virginia Beach Piranha Anja Barwinsky was converted by Maren Wallenhorst in the middle – it took Gütersloh 22 minutes to score their first Bundesliga goal in club history. Except for a distance shot hitting the crossbar right before halftime by Fabienne Dongus, Gütersloh now controlled the match. Marie Pollmann and Rebecca Granz added one in the opening third of the second half before Pollmann marked her second of the day short before the final whistle.