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Berlin, March 21 (IANS) Leon Goretzka's equalizer secured Germany a 1-1 draw with Serbia in an international friendly ahead of the upcoming UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. Germany took the reins from the kick off on home soil and created a couple of chances in the opening period.
However, it were the visitors who opened the scoring against the run of the play with nine minutes played when Germany failed to clear a corner allowing Luka Jovic to tap home the opener from close range, reports Xinhua.
The hosts responded well and should have restored parity but Timo Werner was unable to overcome onrushing Serbia's goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic from 13 meters in the 22nd minute.
Serbia's Jovic had the chance to double the lead three minutes later but Lukas Klostermann blocked the shot at the last second inside the box.
Germany played on the offensive and created another chance before the break as Marko Dmitrovic had to be on guard to deny Werner once again in the 37th minute.
The visitors squandered another chance to extend the lead after Adem Ljajic had all the time and space, but pulled over the bar from nine meters with four minutes remaining in the first half.
After the restart, Germany remained on the front foot as Marco Reus kept Serbia's defense busy and tested custodian Dmitrovic with an hour into the game.
Germany's efforts paid off 10 minutes later when Leon Goretzka capitalized on Marco Reus' square pass to slot home from 14 meters into the top left corner, making it 1-1 on the scoreboards.
Joachim Low's men controlled the proceedings but failed to make the most of their chances meanwhile Serbia had to complete the friendly with 10 men as Milan Pavkov saw a straight red card for a rude foul play to Leroy Sane in the dying minutes of the game.
"It is always a pity when you run behind a deficit. Due to the changes we obviously had some coordination problems in the first half. In the second half we increased the pressure but lacked in a good chance conversion," Germany coach Joachim Low said.
The German team will travel to the Netherlands to kick off their UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers on Sunday.
--IANS
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