Bundesliga News

Germany held to a draw by Serbia

By Rune Gjerulff   @runegjerulff

Joachim Löw's troops had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Serbia in their first game of 2019.
Joachim Löw.
Joachim Löw.
Germany began their 2019 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Serbia in a friendly at Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg tonight.


RB Leipzig's Lukas Klostermann was handed his international debut as he started at right-back, lining up with Niklas Süle, Jonathan Tah and Marcel Halstenberg in front of Manuel Neuer.

Joshua Kimmich featured as a holding midfielder once again, playing with Ilkay Gündogan and Kai Havertz in midfield, with Julian Brandt, Timo Werner and Leroy Sané starting up front.

Germany dominated posession from the start, but it was the guests who went ahead after 12 minutes as Eintracht Frankfurt's Luka Jovic headed the ball into the net following a corner.

Timo Werner came close to an equaliser on two occassions at the other end of the pitch, but his attempts were kept out by Marko Dmitrović who had a very good game for Serbia.

Towards the end of the first half, Adem Ljajić should have added to Serbia's lead, but he blasted the ball over the crossbar from a good position.


Löw made a couple of substitutions at half-time with Marco Reus and Marc-André ter Stegen coming on instead of Kai Havertz and Manuel Neuer. After a quiet start to the first half, Leon Goretzka was also subbed on the pitch, replacing Julian Brandt.

As the second half progressed, Germany created a string of huge opportunities, but 'Die Mannschaft' had to wait until the 69th minute before Leon Goretzka finally smashed home the equaliser after he was cleverly set up by Marco Reus.

Neither team managed to score the winner, but the game ended off in dramatic fashion as Serbia's Milan Pavkov was shown a straight red card for a nasty challenge on Leroy Sané.

Germany open their European Championship qualification on Sunday with a game against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.


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