Germany demolished Scotland again to the tune of 6-1 in a quickfire Women’s Nations League rematch on Tuesday.
Having defeated Scotland 4-0 just days before, the Germany Frauen kept firing on all cylinders to stay level on points (but ahead on goal differential) with the Netherlands in League A Group 1. But this time, it took some time to get going.
Scotland had a good start; the match had barely started when Caroline Weir (Real Madrid) sending a early curler that had Ann-Kathrin Berger (Gotham FC of the NWSL) at full stretch to deny with a wonderful save. It would have been an echo of the last game, when Elisa Senß scored inside the first minute.
But then the Scottish struck first blood anyway! After the scoreless opening dragged on into the 40th minute, Scotland pressed the Germans into a turnover and finished the move clinically — Weir getting another crack at it this time and tucking home a rebound from a Berger parry.
The second half, though, came with an immediate vibe shift. Substitute Giovanni Hoffmann (RB Leipzig) quickly pounced on a back pass and struck the post in what would only be a warning sign of the storm to come. And come it did.
Selina Cerci (TSG Hoffenheim) leveled from the corner, banking her header in to the near post in the 51st minute. In the 56th she struck again, this time on the end of a back-and-forth sequence that saw the ball whip from one side of the field to another: Sjoeke Nüsken (Chelsea FC) in to Laura Freigang (Eintracht Frankfurt), who lofted back central to Hoffman, who had a brave headed effort denied…all before Cerci finally pounced.
And if that was a barrage it was nothing compared to what followed.
In the 63rd minute, Bayern Munich midfielder Sydney Lohmann slipped Hoffmann through. The super-sub forward navigated her way amid defenders in the box and poked the ball cleverly past keeper Lee Gibson (Glasgow City) when she least expected. Not two minutes later, Jule Brand (VfL Wolfsburg) pounced on a stray ball near midfield and a free-flowing team move resulted in Brand slipping Hoffmann through again, this time centrally inside the box, for a quickfire brace.
And then came the best goal of the night, and it was only two more minutes after that! Germany drove forward and Brand found herself in empty space on the right flank. She received and played in a cross for Laura Freigang, who deftly backheeled it across the face of goal and into the net without breaking her stride.
And still Germany was not done. In the 75th minute Freigang received a lines-breaking pass as she drove into the box to set up Cerci, who lashed home ferociously into the top corner for her hat-trick. Freigang nearly got her brace too before the game was up…but it finished 6-1.
Highlights available from the DFB channel as well as below:
