Jamie Leweling's goal on debut separated the two sides at Allianz Arena in Munich. Germany are now sitting atop Group A3 having collected ten points from four games, five clear of second-placed Netherlands.
Germany edged past Netherlands 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Monday (local time). Jamie Leweling's goal on debut separated the two sides at Allianz Arena in Munich. Die Mannschaft are now sitting atop Group A3 having collected ten points from four games, five clear of second-placed Dutch.
A Jamie Leweling debut goal seals the 3 points for us 🙌
📸 DFB/ Philipp Reinhard pic.twitter.com/Y0OtkaN8wH
Leweling, one of the two international debutants for Germany, put the ball inside the net in the second minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside after a lengthy VAR check. The VFB Stuttgart attacker nearly scored mid-way through the first-half but Stefan de Vrig made a goal-line block to keep the score goalless.
Nevertheless, Leweling deservedly scored his first international goal in the 62nd-minute. The 23-year-old fired home into the top corner after the Dutch failed to properly clear a corner. In response, Xavi Simons' long-range effort struck the crossbar.
In the 89th-minute, Dutch substitute Donyell Mala played a nice little one-two with Mats Wieffer on the edge of the box, before testing German keeper Oliver Baumann with a powerful strike. The 34-year-old's big strong right-hand kept the score 1-0 in favour of the hosts.
“The first half was exceptionally good,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. “After the break, they switched things around and we did not defend as well.
“But we fully deserved the win. We now want to win the remaining matches. We want to have continuity when it comes to the results.”
“I am not satisfied by our performance,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said. “The Germans were the better, faster and physically stronger. They created more chances.
“We lost too many balls in the midfield. We went too far back, that was not the plan. The plan was to put pressure forward on the right side. But it did not happen,” he added.
Also read: UEFA Nations League: Kolo Muani scores twice as France beat Belgium 2-1