Goals from Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Saskia Matheis and Julia Matuschewski handed the Bundesliga’s most successful side the win, against a very young and inexperienced City outfit.
With many of the first-team enjoying the last few days of their break, following their European Championship exploits, manager Nick Cushing fielded several members of the Development Squad, handing debuts to trio Serena Fletcher, Esme Morgan and Beth O’Donnell; then introducing Poppy Pattinson from the bench.
Frankfurt – just a fortnight away from the start of their competitive season – were several weeks into their pre-season campaign and their readiness showed, as the hosts claimed a 2-0 lead inside five minutes.
Virtually from kick-off, Crnogorcevic opened the scoring, collecting a loose ball inside the penalty area and poking home.
The celebrations had barely ended when Matheis doubled the lead with a curling finish at the second attempt.
The visitors responded well to their poor start. Claire Emslie forced Desiree Schumann into her first stop, driving at the defence and trying a low effort, while O’Donnell did well to dig out a shot but fired straight at the goalkeeper.
At the other end, Marie Hourihan kept City in the game, thwarting the hosts from long range.
The Blues were much-improved after the break but struggled to test Schumann.
Jane Ross was inches away from connecting to Emslie’s delivery, while substitute Mel Lawley’s shot was blocked.
Meanwhile, Cushing introduced youngster Ellie Roebuck in goal and the England U19s shot-stopper was called into immediate action, excellently tipping over from Kumi Yokoyama and Sophie Schmidt.
Lisa Ebert then struck the bar for the home side with a thunderous effort before the scoring was completed with six minutes of normal time remaining.
Despite Roebuck’s best attempts, Matuschewski’s long-range attempt looped under the crossbar and in.
In Nick Cushing’s words...
“Our main focus wasn’t the result. We didn’t have our international players and our objective was to give our young players a run out.
“There are many positives. We played really well, the young players gave a good account of themselves and the senior players showed real leadership.
“We’ll go back home now, collect the rest of our first team and head out to Toulouse. We’re excited.”
Next up…
City have little time to dwell on the result in Germany, as they head to France on Tuesday to take part in the Toulouse International Ladies Cup.
