Undav brace proves the difference as Germany edge out Bosnia-Herzegovina
A B & H squad full of current and former Bundesliga professionals didn't make it easy for the visiting Germans, but VfB Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav ultimately proved a better finisher than his club teammate Ermedin Demirovic.
Just one match removed from his very first goal scored for country, VfB Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav has added two more to his German senior team account in a 2-1 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Bilino Polje Stadium. The 28-year-old pocketed a brace in the first half and might have scored a hat trick were it not for a disallowed goal midway through the second. A superior German side survived some scary moments and a late pull-back goal from former Wolfsburg mainstay Edin Dzeko
Nagelsmann's formation quickly crystallized into a 4-2-3-1, but (unlike in the projection) Undav settled into the ten-slot while Florian Wirtz worked the left wing. Serge Gnabry operated opposite Wirtz on the right. German approach play appeared disjointed and easily disrupted in the opening quarter-of-an hour. The first real scoring chance of the match belonged to Bosnian skipper. The former VfL Wolfsburg star pounced on a bad Gnabry back-pass in the 18th. DFB keeper Nübel recovered only just in time to keep the ball out of the net.
Germany's first half chance of the match came when midfielder Pascal Groß whizzed a distance effort past the right corner of the goal in the 25th. Stuttgart striker Ermedin Demirovic nearly scored off the next B & H attack charge. Thankfully for the DFB-XI, Demorivic's Stuttgart teammate secured the opening goal in the 29th. Wirtz peeled off a sublime dribble into the box. After a clever turn and layoff for Undav, the VfB front-man needed only to remain clam to slot home the 1-0.
DFB debutant Tim Kleindienst saw the supposed 2-0 disallowed for offside in the 32nd. Between the 35th and 36th, there was almost a mirror occurrence of scoring chances for Stuttgart teammates Demirovic and Undav. The former saw an effort rattle the crossbar thanks to some hassle-marking from Andrich. Undav converted the 2-0 seconds later thanks to an excellent ball win and curled-in cross from yet another VfB man, Maximilian Mittelstädt.
Matters could seriously degenerated for the hosts had Wirtz not headed over from close range near the end of the half. Bosnian trainer Sergej Barbara went for a defensive minded personnel switch to begin the second half. The Golden Lillies managed to look more stable for the opening five minutes after the restart, but were soon back on their heels attempting the defend the German rushes. Undav's supposed hat trick in the 58th was chalked off - once again - due to an offside position from Kleindienst.
Twenty minutes from the end of normal time, Dzeko did pull a goal back for the hosts. Lax German marking off a corner enabled the 38-year-old to polish off a Benjamin Tahirovic corner in the 70th. The Lillies definitely detected blood in the water and pressed high in an effort to disrupt the German possession game and force some potentially devastating turnovers. Emotions ran so high on the Bosnian bench that an assistant coach was ejected from proceedings for crying foul following a Dzeko-Jonathan Tah aerial duel in the 76th.
Nagelsmann's side largely recovered to wrest back control of the match over the final 15 minutes, though things remained interesting right up until the very end. Barbarez's side sought to build up pressure while the Germans got a few half-chances on the counter in. The final five minutes of injury time featured plenty of ultra psychical tackles without any real scoring chances. Kimmich and Demirovic were both booked shortly before the full-time whistle.