Bayern Munich Frauen draw 1-1 with FFC Frankfurt

In a hugely crucial match for the Bayern Munich Frauen's hopes for reaching the UEFA Women's Champions League, the Frauen drew 1-1 with FFC Frankfurt  at the Grünwald Stadion.

After an early shot pinged off the post from Frankfurt, a long range drive in the 25th minute forced a great diving save from Frauen goalkeeper Katharin Langert. However, the resulting rebound and goal mouth scramble ended with Frankfurt's Kozue Ando tap the ball into the roof of the net to give Frankfurt the lead.

Ultimately, luck was on the side of the Bayern Munich Frauen in this match. In the 62nd minute, Frankfurt's Fatmire Alushi, on a breakaway through mifielder, was viciously upended by defender Rafaella Manieri as she got beaten. With no one between her and Langert, Manieri was lucky to not see red for the foul, which was vicious in it's own right, let alone for the denial-of-goal-scoring-opportunity implications the foul had. The resulting free kick sailed harmlessly over the bar and the Bayern Munich Frauen escaped some rather serious trouble.

As the second half wore on Bayern Munich Frauen turned the screws on Frankfurt, putting them under intense pressure. In the 82nd minute Eunice Beckmann sent in a cross that took a deflection, becoming more of a pop fly off a baseball bat then a cross, that Frankfurt goalkeeper Desiree Schruman bobbled and dropped right in front of goal to disastrous consequences. Striker Chlara Schöne was waiting and the bobbing ball was just begging to be scored, for which she gladly obliged it to level the match. Less then a minute later a brilliant long distance rocket from Vanessa Burkii slammed off the crossbar. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Bayern Munich Frauen were unable to find the game winner - settling for a single point.

Coming into Monday's match, the Frauen sat on 30 points through 15 matches in 4th place in the Frauen Bundesliga table, while Frankfurt were riding high, a point behind league leaders Turbine Potsdam, with 37 points through 15 matches. Today's match represented a group opportunity for the Bayern Frauen to close the gap between themselves and the top of the table, and one they were unable to capitalize on. The Bayern Munich Frauen are next in action on April the 27th against the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Frauen.