Germany U21s lost their second friendly of the September international break. Just four days after a 1-0 defeat to France in Magdeburg, Antonio Di Salvo’s team played well in Sheffield against England, but lost 3-1. Felix Nmecha put Germany ahead after 35 minutes, before goals from Folarin Balogun (42’), Conor Gallagher (47’) and Cole Palmer (90’) gave the hosts the win.
“We deserved a draw tonight,” said Di Salvo after the game. “We had a number of chances and didn’t take them, that’s just how football goes. A lot of lads got an opportunity to impress. We have ultimately lost two games, but we’ll learn from this and look to do better in November.”
“We’re really disappointed,” said Reda Khadra. “We didn’t finish the game well enough after a good start. We have to be more focused and I hope we learn from this.” Jan Thielmann added: “We have to be more tight-knit as a group and develop a winning mentality.”
Nmecha heads in the opener
Coach Di Salvo had promised Nmecha a spot in the starting XI, and wanted him to show what he is capable of. He did just that, opening the scoring after 35 minutes with a header from a Noah Katterbach assist after missing earlier chances (11’, 27’).
The home team improved once conceding and almost equalised two minutes later when James Garner’s header hit the woodwork. They went one better shortly afterwards, as Balogun struck one past Noah Atubolu via the help of the post (42’).
Di Salvo’s men came close to immediately retaking the lead through Thielmann, however England goalkeeper James Trafford made up for his mistake seconds before to deny him (43’).
Second half goes England’s way
The second 45 minutes couldn’t have begun any worse for Germany. Less than two minutes after the break, England easily found their way into the box and Conor Gallagher eventually tapped home from a few yards out.
As England looked to add to their lead, Germany had to hold firm and then looked to take their first chances in the second half. Khadra, playing at his club’s home stadium, took too long on a counter (58’), and then Thielmann’s effort was easy enough for Trafford (59’). With both coaches making a number of substitutions around the 70 minute mark, the game lost its flow somewhat.
Substitutes Faride Alidou (79’) and Eric Martel (82’) couldn’t find crucial equalisers late on, and Germany instead conceded a third goal as they had pushed players up at the death. Cole Palmer calmly found the bottom corner on a counter-attack to condemn Germany to a second straight defeat. To make matters worse, Ansgar Knauff was shown a second yellow card following full time.
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Germany U21s lost their second friendly of the September international break. Just four days after a 1-0 defeat to France in Magdeburg, Antonio Di Salvo’s team played well in Sheffield against England, but lost 3-1. Felix Nmecha put Germany ahead after 35 minutes, before goals from Folarin Balogun (42’), Conor Gallagher (47’) and Cole Palmer (90’) gave the hosts the win.
“We deserved a draw tonight,” said Di Salvo after the game. “We had a number of chances and didn’t take them, that’s just how football goes. A lot of lads got an opportunity to impress. We have ultimately lost two games, but we’ll learn from this and look to do better in November.”
“We’re really disappointed,” said Reda Khadra. “We didn’t finish the game well enough after a good start. We have to be more focused and I hope we learn from this.” Jan Thielmann added: “We have to be more tight-knit as a group and develop a winning mentality.”
Nmecha heads in the opener
Coach Di Salvo had promised Nmecha a spot in the starting XI, and wanted him to show what he is capable of. He did just that, opening the scoring after 35 minutes with a header from a Noah Katterbach assist after missing earlier chances (11’, 27’).
The home team improved once conceding and almost equalised two minutes later when James Garner’s header hit the woodwork. They went one better shortly afterwards, as Balogun struck one past Noah Atubolu via the help of the post (42’).
Di Salvo’s men came close to immediately retaking the lead through Thielmann, however England goalkeeper James Trafford made up for his mistake seconds before to deny him (43’).
Second half goes England’s way
The second 45 minutes couldn’t have begun any worse for Germany. Less than two minutes after the break, England easily found their way into the box and Conor Gallagher eventually tapped home from a few yards out.
As England looked to add to their lead, Germany had to hold firm and then looked to take their first chances in the second half. Khadra, playing at his club’s home stadium, took too long on a counter (58’), and then Thielmann’s effort was easy enough for Trafford (59’). With both coaches making a number of substitutions around the 70 minute mark, the game lost its flow somewhat.
Substitutes Faride Alidou (79’) and Eric Martel (82’) couldn’t find crucial equalisers late on, and Germany instead conceded a third goal as they had pushed players up at the death. Cole Palmer calmly found the bottom corner on a counter-attack to condemn Germany to a second straight defeat. To make matters worse, Ansgar Knauff was shown a second yellow card following full time.
