UEFA U-21 Euros: Germany edge out a 1-1 draw to send Austria home

In the third round of fixtures in Group B, group leaders Germany faced Austria with the German’s already confirmed to be in the semi-finals due to their high goal differences and six points on the board. Austria will be playing second place and a chance to qualify for second place.

Austria kicked off this exciting encounter and tried to attack straight away but the move was broken down.

In the first five minutes, no real attacks were attempted and both teams were looking to gain possession to try and create an attacking opportunity.

In the 9th minute, the first real chance for Germany after a Marco Richter cross was cleared but it fell to Lukas Klostermann who smashed his shot well over the bar.

In the 13th minute, a great chance for Austria. Husein Balic lost his marker and ran to the by-line and shot the ball goal-wards and forced Alexander Nubel to make a diving save.

A minute later, Luca Waldschmidt scored his fifth goal of the tournament. The forward received a pass from Jonathan Tah and he curled a shot into the top right corner to make it 1-0.

In the 22nd minute, a penalty was awarded to Austria. After a controversial decision by the referee, Kevin Danso scored the subsequent penalty to equalise for Austria.

In the 29th minute, Germany had a chance to score and potentially make it 2-1. Levin Oztunali received the ball from a dead ball situation, but his cross reached no one as it fired across goal.

A clear chance for Austria to take the lead. A Xaver Schalger cross reached Sasa Kalajdzic who directed his header at the middle of the goal with the goalkeeper out of position. Somehow Nubel reached the ball with his foot and cleared the ball away from danger.

A beautiful ball by Waldschmidt was narrowly missed by Oztunali, but it would have been disallowed due to an offside against Oztunali.

Marco Friedl nearly scored a fantastic goal. The defender latched out a clearance to Friedl and saw his half volley go narrowly over the bar.

In added time, Kalejdzic hit the post after a great cross and saw his header rebound of the post.

The first-half concluded with the score at 1-1. Germany struck early, but Austria were able to equalise as they grew in confidence and attacked the Germany goal with dangerous pressure.

Germany kicked off the second-half with the current result enough to see them through, but the Austrians need a win if they want to qualify from second place.

The first ten minutes of the second-half saw Germany regain composure in the game as they got into more attacking spaces and gained more possession with Austria being patient and pressuring the Germans into mistakes.

In the 56th minute, Austria had a great chance as Balic ran onto a through ball as he beat Jonathan Tah with his speed but his shot was not good enough and Nubel comfortably saved the shot.

In the 66th minute, substitute Nadiem Amiri intercepted the ball from an Austria pass and raced to be one on one with Alexander Schlager, but scuffed his shot.

A minute later, Waldschmidt passed the ball to Oztunali his effort was blocked.

Nadiem Amiri nearly scored a wonderful goal from a free-kick his shot hit the side netting though and was a great chance for Germany to take the lead.

Not long after, captain Philipp Lienhart had a chance from outside the area with a curling effort that went wide and over the goal.

In the 80th minute, Germany had a great counter attack through Oztunali who had Waldschmidt and Amiri running with him, however the midfielder chose to go alone and his weak shot was easily saved by the Austrian goalkeeper.

The final whistle of the game blew. Germany qualify for the semi-finals finishing top spot after the 1-1 draw with Austria. Austria go home after Denmark won 2-0 and stole the last remaining place.

Team Line-ups

Austria U-21: Alexander Schlager; Marco Friedl, Kevin Danso, Stefan Posch, Maximilian Ullmann; Dejan Ljubicic (Christoph Baumgartner 54′), Philipp Lienhart (c); Sascha Horvath, Xaver Schlager, Husein Balic (Mathias Honsak 85′); Sasa Kalajdzic (Adrian Grbic 77′).

Germany U-21: Alexander Nübel; Lukas Klostermann, 4Jonathan Tah (c), Timo Baumgartl, Benjamin Henrichs; Maximilian Eggestein (Robin Kock 83′); Florian Neuhaus (Suat Serdar 56′), Mahmoud Dahoud, Levin Öztunali; Luca Waldschmidt, Marco Richter (Nadiem Amiri 56′).

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