Borussia Dortmund’s women’s football team defeated SpVgg Horsthausen 4-0 (1-0) at home in the Rote Erde stadium. Marie Grothe scored a brace in the second half to clinch all three points on Matchday 11.

On a day they reunited with former teammate Hannah Goosman, the BVB women successfully defended their lead at the top of the table. For former BVB record goalscorer Goosmann, who has been playing for Horsthausen since the start of this season, it was her first return to her former club. “It was really nice and I enjoyed seeing all the BVB fans again, even if they were on the other side today,” said Goosmann after the game.

BVB coach Thomas Sulewski made just one change to the starting XI compared to the 11-0 win over SV Hohenlimburg 1910 the previous week: Marjana Naceva started on the wing in place of Merle Greulich, who moved to the bench. Just like the incessant rain in the Rote Erde stadium, one attack after another poured down on the Horsthausen goal early on, but the Black & Yellows were unable to find the finishing touch. “We wanted to carry over the momentum from last week, but we didn’t open the spaces we wanted to,” said Sulewski as he commented on the first half.

The most dangerous goalscoring opportunity came down the other end. After an undercooked back pass, Alisa Badt was suddenly one-on-one with goalkeeper Sandra Schröer. The BVB keeper kept her cool and got the better of the Horsthausen striker. The Black & Yellows then took the lead in the 37th minute when Mandy Reinhardt reacted quickest to a rebound to slot the ball home and make it 1-0. 

After the change of ends, Borussia pressed hard for the second goal, but had to wait until the 64th minute, when Marie Grothe converted a beautiful pass from substitute Greulich to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, Grothe was on hand again, lurking at the far post after a corner and finishing with ease to bring the score to 3-0. Marah Tayeh then made it 4-0 with a low shot into the bottom-left corner in the 81st minute.

“I voiced my unhappiness at half-time and the team did much better in the second half,” said Sulewski. Next Sunday, the BVB women will host the second team of VfL Bochum. Kick-off at the Youth Performance Centre is scheduled for 13:30 CET. 

BVB women: Schröer – Tayeh, Jung, Haslsteiner (81, Rechenbach), Geldschläger – Gomulka – Naceva (75, Klemann), Grothe, Bedarf (62, Becker), Tan (62, Greulich) – Reinhardt (81, Kaul)

Goals: 1-0 Reinhardt (37), 2-0 Grothe (64), 3-0 Grothe (74), 4-0 Tayeh (81) (df)