Sane is hooked off as a precautionary measure as Schulz comes on to waste the final few seconds of this match.
FULL-TIME: GERMANY 1-1 SERBIA
90' +3
M. Pavkov goes off after a red card!
PAVKOV IS SENT OFF! Sane, who has been the Serbians’ main target all match, is brought down by a dangerous challenge by the substitute who could’ve broken the winger’s leg with that tackle! Referee Madden has no choice but to show the red card to Pavkov as Sane gingerly gets back up to the relief of both Germany and Manchester City fans!
90' +1
Ter Stegen’s first test in a while finds him flapping away Radonjic’s cross. The corner is swiftly dealt with, but Sane loses his cool following Jovicic’s manhandling of him during an aerial duel. Referee Madden quickly calms both sets of players down, and play resumes.
90'
T. Kehrer enters the game and replaces L. Klostermann.
Klostermann, who awkwardly slipped after blocking Radonjic's cross, comes off for Kehrer as the impressive debutant limps off the pitch and out of the match.
88'
B. Jovičić enters the game and replaces N. Maksimović.
With one eye on Portugal in five days’ time, Maksimovic comes off to be replaced by Jovicic in the Serbia midfield.
85'
Sane, embarking on another one of his mazy runs at goal, is clipped by Spajic as Serbia concede a free-kick in prime Reus territory. The resulting set-piece, however, doesn’t even travel 10 yards as it is blocked at the first attempt.
82'
Reus manages to burst through the away backline en route to their penalty area, but his first touch is too heavy and the ball meekly goes out for another Serbian goal kick.
80'
S. Mitrović enters the game and replaces M. Bogosavac.
Bogosavac also makes way for Mitrovic as Krstajic attempts to run down the clock with more solidity in his side.
79'
A. Živković enters the game and replaces D. Lazović.
Lazovic gets an early rest after an impressive display, coming off for Zivkovic.
77'
Dmitrovic has to be at full stretch to once again deny Sane following the winger’s long drive, the bounce proving to be an awkward one for the Serbian keeper to deal with! Germany are now in the ascendancy, and are hunting for a winner with only 13 minutes of normal time left.
Minute
Description
75'
Reus is able to find space in the box after jinking past Spajic following Halstenberg’s pass, but his low shot sails across goal and trickles out of play for a Serbia goal kick.
71'
M. Pavkov enters the game and replaces L. Jović.
The goalscorer Jovic makes way for Pavkov as Krstajic seeks to emerge from the Volkswagen Arena without defeat after playing so well for the majority of the match.
69'
L. Goretzka has scored a goal for Germany! Assist by M. Reus.
Reus, who has arguably been the home side’s brightest attacking spark since the interval, combines well with his fellow substitute to get the Germans back in the game.
GOOOAAALLL!! GERMANY FINALLY EQUALISE! Serbia’s attempts to play the ball out from the back end in disarray as they carelessly give the ball away in midfield, allowing Reus to find Goretzka with the quickest of passes and the latter takes one touch before burying it past Dmitrovic to make it 1-1 at the Volkswagen Arena!
62'
N. Radonjić enters the game and replaces M. Gaćinović.
S. Lukić enters the game and replaces S. Milinković-Savić.
Radonjic also comes on in place of Gacinovic as Krstajic seeks to add more solidity to his midfield.
Milinkovic-Savic makes way for Lukic in Krstajic's first substitution of the game.
61'
Sane is flagged for offside just as he gets on the end of Reus’ lofted throughball in the Serbia box.
57'
Same embarks on a great run towards the Serbian penalty area and goes down in the box after a one-two just before he breaks free from his marker. The subsequent corner is cleared only as far out as Reus, whose wild effort from 25 yards out is well over Dmitrovic’s bar.
56'
L. Goretzka enters the game and replaces J. Brandt.
Low’s third substitution of the game sees Bayern Munich’s Goreztka come on in place of Brandt.
52'
Germany have started this half with more urgency, but the visitors are still defending as stoutly as they were before the break. Reus and company need to do more in order to break down the red wall.
49'
Bogosavac is lucky to have escaped a booking after trodding on Werner’s foot, the late lunge briefly keeping the striker down on the pitch before he gets back up.
47'
Reus makes an immediate impact, finding space in the box before both of his attempted cut-backs are blocked by more resolute Serbian defending.
46'
M. Reus enters the game and replaces K. Havertz.
M. ter Stegen enters the game and replaces M. Neuer.
Havertz also makes way for Reus, the latter taking on the role of the Germans' chief playmaker.
Serbia get play restarted as the second half gets underway!
Low reacts to the half-time deficit by bringing on Ter Stegen for his 22nd appearance for Die Mannschaft, hooking off Neuer in the process.
No changes for Serbia after the interval, but they are now lining up in a 4-1-4-1 with Ljajic moved out on the wing and Maksimovic taking on the role of the visitors’ water-carrier.
45' +1
HALF-TIME: GERMANY 0-1 SERBIA
44'
Milenkovic couldn’t adjust his body properly to get a clean hit on the ball following another chaos-causing Ljajic set-piece, but wins the corner off a flailing Tah. It falls towards Milenkovic-Savic, but the Lazio’s header goes wide of Neuer’s left post.
33'
Klostermann delivers a teasing ball towards the Serbian six-yard area, but Brandt fails to get on the end of it when all it needed was the faintest of touches!
32'
Sane’s appeals for a penalty are waved off by referee Madden after he goes down in the box following a robust challenge by Bogosavac.
29'
Sane at the heart of more positive play by the hosts once more, as he bursts towards the Serbian penalty area and plays Werner in out on the wing, but the striker’s low cross fails to find a white shirt and the away defence clear again.
27'
Sane does well to jink past a couple of obstacles in red, but the congested penalty area wins the battle and Spajic clears the ball with authority.
18'
Germany still have the ball, but their ponderous play is playing right into their opponents’ hands, who scored from their first attack of this match.
15'
Low’s side are looking frantic out on the Volkswagen Arena, and are attacking their visitors in waves. However, Serbia are known for their defensive prowess, and this young side will have to be at their craftiest to break through.
12'
L. Jović has scored a goal for Serbia! Assist by N. Maksimović.
Maksimovic was fortunate to find that his deflection freed up Jovic in the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.
GOOOOAAALLLL!! JOVIC GIVES SERBIA THE SHOCK LEAD! A beautiful one-two between Ljajic and Milenkovic-Savic forces Sule to concede a corner, and the former’s subsequent set-piece takes a massive deflection off Maksimovic towards the in-form Eintracht Frankfurt striker in space, leaving him free to head the ball past Neuer for his first-ever international goal! It’s 1-0 to Serbia in the Volkswagen Arena, and Die Mannschaft’s World Cup hangover continues!
10'
Bogosavac slips as he tries to get on the end of Dmitrovic’s pass, conceding a throw-in to Germany in the process. Die Mannschaft continue to probe, but the visitors are happy to sit back and defend in their two banks of four.
8'
Gacinovic wins a free kick off Brandt after a spell of Serbian possession, only for Bogosavac’s cross to be collected by Neuer.
5'
Brandt tries to play in Sane, but the Manchester City winger is unable to get on the end of the former’s throughball and Dmitrovic easily sweeps up the opportunity.
3'
Dmitrovic does well to get a hold of Havertz’s decent effort after the Leverkusen youngster attempted a low drive from close range!
2'
The debutant Klostermann already attempting to stamp his mark on the match, forcing a corner off Milenkovic after an ambitious foray towards the visitors’ penalty area. The set-piece is dealt with, but Low’s young side retain possession and are playing keep-ball in these early moments.
1'
Referee Bobby Madden blows his whistle, and Germany get us underway at the Volkswagen Arena!
The hosts are decked in their home colours of white shirts and black shorts, while the visitors are out in all-red for this match.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of this friendly contest as Germany host Serbia at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg!
Germany are still to recover from their disastrous performance at the 2018 World Cup, having only won two of their six matches since last summer’s showpiece and also suffering the ignominy of getting relegated from their UEFA Nations League group during the autumn. However, much of the pre-match talk has centred around Joachim Low’s decision to inform stalwarts Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller that they would no longer be taken into consideration for international duties going forward, so all eyes will be on Die Mannschaft’s team selection as they prepare for a tough start to their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign at the Netherlands in four days’ time.
On the other hand, Serbia haven’t tasted defeat since the 2018 World Cup, having enjoyed a six-match unbeaten run that has seen them win four times and top their Nations League group in the process. Mladen Krstajic’s men should be able to ride that wave of confidence into Wolfsburg despite their status as underdogs for this friendly, and will aim to give their more illustrious opponents something to think about given the hosts’ World Cup hangover as they too prepare for a difficult opening to their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign against the reigning champions Portugal on Monday.
And without further ado, let’s take a look at how both sides line up, starting with the hosts.
GERMANY XI (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer (c); Lukas Klostermann, Niklas Sule, Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich; Ilkay Gundogan, Marcel Halstenberg; Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz, Leroy Sane; Timo Werner.
SUBSTITUTES: Andrija Zivkovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Milos Veljkovic, Nemanja Radonjic, Branko Jovicic, Predrag Rajkovic, Nemanja Miletic, Milan Pavkov, Sasa Lukic, Nikola Vasiljevic
SERBIA XI (4-3-3): Marko Dmitrovic; Antonio Rukavina (c), Uros Spajic, Nikola Milenkovic, Miroslav Bogosavac; Nemanja Maksimovic, Mijat Gacinovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic; Darko Lazovic, Luka Jovic, Adem Ljajic.
SUBSTITUTES: Leon Goretzka, Matthias Ginter, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Stark, Maximilian Eggestein, Thilo Kehrer, Toni Kroos, Marco Reus, Kevin Trapp, Nico Schulz, Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The players are out and kick-off is drawing near.
It’s safe to say that Low’s gamble is not paying off so far, as Germany’s first-half performance lacked the guile and poise that the likes of Hummels, Boateng and Muller were renowned for. Despite some bright moments, Die Mannschaft are clearly missing the core of their World Cup-winning alumni, with the likes of Werner and Havertz struggling to kick off despite Sane’s best efforts to inject some attacking impetus into the hosts. As for Serbia, Jovic’s first international strike was just reward for Krstajic’s men who have not only defended brilliantly so far, but also exposed their opponents’ defensive fragilities with some great movement and deliveries from the likes of Ljajic and Lazovic.
We may be seeing some of the old guard off the bench a lot sooner than we thought, with Kroos and Reus among the Die Mannschaft substitutes as Low surely has one eye open on their first Euro 2020 qualifier against the Netherlands on Sunday. As for Serbia, Milenkovic and company will have a busy 45 minutes attempting to thwart swathes of attacks in white shirts, but a similar display to their first-half one could see Krstajic’s men leave Wolfsburg with huge momentum ahead of their qualifying opener against Portugal on Monday.
Both sides now have a more important task at hand, and that is to ensure automatic qualification into next summer’s Euro 2020 finals. Low’s Germany take a trip to the Netherlands for their first qualifier on Sunday, while Krstajic’s Serbia head to the defending champions’ backyard as Portugal host them a day later.
And that wraps up our coverage. We hope you enjoyed our commentary, and until next time, goodbye!
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