Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
Football
By
AFP
| Oct 12, 2024
Germany's defender Robin Gosens jumps to control the ball during the UEFA Nations League match between Bosnia and Herzegovina. [AFP]
Deniz Undav scored twice as Germany defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 to edge closer to the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday as 10-man Netherlands rescued a 1-1 draw in Hungary.
Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz laid on a backheel for Undav's opener after 30 minutes in Zenica.
The Stuttgart forward then made it two when he turned in Maximilian Mittlestaedt's cross.
Bosnia hit back with 20 minutes remaining when 38-year-old former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko headed in from a corner for his 67th international goal.
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The win moves Germany on to seven points from three games, two ahead of the Netherlands with the two heavyweights facing each other on Monday in Munich.
At the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary and Dutch players, as well as spectators, observed a minute's silence in memory of former Netherlands great Johan Neeskens who passed away this week at the age of 73.
Hungary took the lead in the 32nd minute when Roland Sallai scored with a close-range finish after being teed up by Zsolt Nagy.
It was the perfect start to the game for Hungarian coach Marco Rossi who was taking charge for the 69th time.
Hungary were looking at defeating the Dutch in the teams' first meeting since they were mauled 8-1 in 2013.
That prospect brightened when Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk was red-carded in the 79th minute.
However, four minutes later, the Dutch made a mockery of their one-man disadvantage when Denzel Dumfries headed in a free-kick from Cody Gakpo.
Wales squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 in Iceland.
Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson gave Craig Bellamy's team a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break but Iceland hit back in the second half.
Substitute Logi Tomasson cut the deficit in the 69th minute before Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward allowed a 72nd minute drive from the same player to bounce off his elbow and into the net.
In the same group, Turkey defeated Montenegro 1-0.
Elsewhere on Friday, Sweden let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 in Slovakia, a result which left both teams on seven points from three games but with the Swedes ahead on goal difference in their group.
Yasin Ayari and Ken Sema had Sweden 2-0 up after 32 minutes in Bratislava but Slovakia battled back for a point thanks to a brace from David Strelec.
Tomas Chory scored twice to give the Czech Republic a 2-0 home win over Albania.
The Czechs are level on six points with pool leaders Georgia who lost 1-0 to Ukraine.