The Netherlands and Germany played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in their Nations League Group A3 clash in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Deniz Undav scored on his first start for Germany and captain Joshua Kimmich netted the second for a 2-1 halftime lead after Tijjani Reijnders had scored for the Dutch after 100 seconds. Denzel Dumfries levelled early in the second half in a game played at a quick tempo and with occasional flashes of temper to make it a spicy derby.
Having beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-2 in their opening game, the Netherlands got off to a dream start at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Ryan Gravenberch’s perfect through ball set Reijnders away to tuck the ball beyond goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and into the net. Dumfries then headed wide from Xavi Simons’ free kick, before Simons missed a chance of his own from another accurate Gravenberch pass.
Germany had enjoyed plenty of possession and got level in the 38th minute, with Jamal Musiala intercepting an errant pass from Matthijs de Ligt and setting up Undav to score his first international goal. The visitors then took the lead in first-half stoppage time, Robert Andrich’s long diagonal ball hooked back across goal by David Raum for the unmarked Kimmich to score at the far post.
Nathan Aké went off just before half time with a suspected hamstring injury, replaced by Jurriën Timber, and Ronald Koeman replaced De Ligt with Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke at the interval. Five minutes into the second half, striker Brian Brobbey held off defenders square for Dumfries to level the game.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side squandered three good opportunities to retake the lead as Kai Havertz missed from close range, Undav unsuccessfully tried to chip keeper Bart Verbruggen and Raum headed wide at the back post. Germany stay top of their group on goal difference, with Hungary and Bosnia playing out a goalless draw in Budapest.
In League B, the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League misery continued as Greece emerged from their Group 2 trip to Dublin with a 2-0 victory. Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis were on target in the second half to leave the hosts pointless after two matches under the new head coach, Heimir Hallgrímsson.
It might have been different had Chiedozie Ogbene not strayed offside before producing a superb first-half finish from Jayson Molumby’s pass. After a competitive first period, Greece went ahead within five minutes of the restart as Ioannidis curled a left-footed shot past Caoimhin Kelleher from the edge of the penalty area.
Jason Knight headed wide from an Ogbene cross as the Republic responded, with Hallgrímsson also throwing on striker Evan Ferguson for Molumby just past the hour mark. Will Smallbone had a chance to equalise 10 minutes from time, only to miscontrol Robbie Brady’s pull-back.
Adam Idah and Callum Robinson also came on late in the game, with the latter’s late attempt deflected just wide. Tzolis then struck at the death, side-stepping Nathan Collins after being played in behind the Irish defence and firing emphatically past Kelleher to make sure of Greece’s victory.
In Group B1, two first-half Pavel Sulc goals and a late Tomas Soucek penalty earned the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Ukraine. Sulc turned Vaclav Cerny’s shot into the net to open the scoring but Vladyslav Vanat headed home Mykola Shaparenko’s cross to level. Sulc restored the hosts’ lead just before half time with a powerful volley.
Soucek extended the hosts’ lead in Prague with an 80th-minute penalty, and while Georgiy Sudakov pulled a goal back for Ukraine, the Czechs held on for a welcome win after losing 4-1 to Georgia in their group opener. Georgia sit top of the group after they earned a 1-0 victory over Albania, Giorgi Kochorashvili scoring the winner in Tirana.
