Germany secure late draw with Ukraine in international friendly

Bremen (Germany): Late goals from Kai Havertz and Joshua Kimmich helped Germany to clinch a 3-3 stalemate against resilient Ukraine in front of 35,975 spectators at the Weser stadium, here.

The Germans assumed control from the kick off as Niclas Fullkrug came close with only two minutes played. Fullkurg remained in the thick of things as he opened the scoring four minutes after deflecting Marius Wolf’s dangerous shot.

The hosts should have made it two but for all that Julian Brandt rattled only the side netting from promising position in the 11th minutes on Monday.

The visitors from the Ukraine sparked to life out of thin air as Brandt’s misplaced pass allowed Oleksandr Tymchyk to set up for Viktor Tsygankov, who beat Germany goalkeeper Kevin Trapp with a low shot from a tight angle in the 18th minute.

Serhiy Rebrov’s boys gained momentum and turned the tide five minutes later when Antonio Rudiger deflected Mykhailo Mudryk’s volley to make it 2-1 for Ukraine.

Germany nearly restored parity just before the break but Leroy Sane’s free kick hit only the crossbar, a Xinhua report said.

The visitors grabbed a bright start into the second half and shocked Germany with the 3-1 lead as Artem Dovbyk dispossessed Matthias Ginter inside the box before squaring into the path of Tsygankov, who made no mistake and sewed up his brace into the empty goal in the 56th minute.

Germany pressed frantically and got rewarded in the closing stages as Havertz controlled a long ball before beating Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin from close range in the 83rd minute.

The hosts remained on the front foot and restored parity in the dying minutes as Joshua Kimmich converted a foul play penalty to make it 3-3 on the scoreboards.

“The result shows the shape of the squad. We started well, we had everything under control but then we gave things out of our hands. We must see how we can improve things as we still have coordination problems on the pitch,” said Germany head coach Hansi Flick.

“We played very well over ninety minutes and gave our very best,” said Ukraine head coach Serhiy Rebrov.