Essen moved ahead of Carl Zeiss Jena in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga with a 2:1 win on Saturday. The visitors had already played five games before this fixture, as did the hosts, and the result tightened the gap at the top of the table. Essen sit second with 15 points from five matches, while Jena remain fifth on nine points.
By then the visitors had established a rhythm that the hosts could not match. Essen came through their opening fixtures without dropping a point, winning all five games they had played. Jena had won three and lost two, including a heavy 7:0 defeat to Werder Bremen earlier in the season. To be fair, they had pulled off a 2:1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach on their most recent outing before this match.
The away side closed the game out when it mattered. They had already beaten Jena 4:3 in April, so this was a different kind of performance — less chaotic, more controlled. The hosts turned to the kids in desperation but could not find the equaliser. Essen kept knocking on the door and eventually found the net twice.
What the result means is straightforward. Essen move closer to the summit with a perfect record intact. Jena's fifth-place position does not change, but the disappointment of another defeat adds to a season that has already seen three losses in five matches. The gap between them sits at six points.