Germany’s 1,000th international match ended in a 3-3 draw at home against Ukraine in Bremen. Niclas Füllkrug opened the scoring for Hansi Flick’s side (6’), however the visitors took a two-goal lead thanks to a Viktor Tsyhankov double (19’, 56’) and an Antonio Rüdiger own goal (23’). A late rally from the home team meant it ended level, as Kai Havertz (83’) and Joshua Kimmich (90+1’) both found the back of the net in the closing stages.
Füllkrug on the scoresheet once again
Germany pressed their opponents early on and this led to the first good chance after just two minutes. A misplaced pass fell to Füllkrug in the box, but he missed the target from a central position. Just a few minutes later though, the forward did break the deadlock at his home ground. A fine diagonal ball from Kimmich found Marius Wolf down the right and his shot on his left foot was deflected home by Füllkrug. The Werder Bremen striker has now scored in each of his last five international games.
Ukraine come from behind
Wolf was involved in Germany’s next promising attack, playing the ball to Julian Brandt. His cross across the six-yard box eventually found David Raum at the far post, but he could only hit the side-netting from what was a tight angle (10’). The visitors reacted well to this tough start by scoring twice inside a few minutes. Viktor Tsyhankov was played in behind the Germany defence and found the far corner with a nice finish past Kevin Trapp (19’). Four minutes later, Mykhailo Mudryk’s shot took a touch off Antonio Rüdiger and ended up in the back of the net.
Germany looked to level things before the break and came close on a few occasions. Leon Goretzka fizzed a shot from the edge of the box just wide (29’), Niclas Füllkrug headed over (38’) and then Leroy Sané hit the bar with a free-kick on the stroke of half time (45’).
Flick introduced Lukas Klostermann and Kai Havertz for the second half, taking off Nico Schlotterbeck and Füllkrug. Although Germany had more of the ball, they struggled to find gaps in the Ukraine defence and it was instead the away team that scored again. A defensive slip-up allowed Tsyhankov to make it 3-1 after a cutback from Artem Dovbyk (56’).
Havertz and Kimmich save the day
Further changes saw Jamal Musiala and Jonas Hofmann replace Goretzka and Wolf (62’). Havertz’s shot on the turn, which went over the bar, was Germany’s first real attempt of the second half (64’). Florian Wirtz and Benjamin Henrichs then came on for Brandt and Raum with around 20 minutes left to play (71’).
An eventful final 15 minutes began with Rüdiger volleying just past the post from 15 yards out (74’), before Kevin Trapp was quick off his line to deny Oleksandr Zubkov (75’). A Rüdiger long ball found Havertz on the edge of the box in the 83rd minute and he initially headed the ball on, only to then beat Mykola Matviyenko to it and then stab it past the goalkeeper. The substitute was involved again in the third goal, winning the penalty after a foul on him by Eduard Sobol. Joshua Kimmich stepped up and converted from the spot to level proceedings in the first minute of injury time.
Germany are next in action away to Poland on Friday night in Warsaw (20:45 CEST).