Zsolt Nagy and Jonas Hofmann traded early goals as Hungary and Germany shared the points in a compelling encounter in UEFA Nations League Group A3.
Manuel Neuer produced several fine saves to preserve Germany’s unbeaten start to the competition.
Hungary have only failed to score in one of their last 12 UEFA Nations League matches. They have made a strong start to their campaign and pushed Germany all the way tonight.
Both sides will be relatively happy with a point from a match which could have swung either way. The opening few minutes were sensational, the first half action-packed. The second period was less eventful, but nevertheless the game bubbled away until the very end. Overall, neither side were perhaps clinical enough in the final third to warrant the three points. Marco Rossi will be delighted to have four points from his side’s opening three fixtures. For Hansi Flick, though, three from three – and four draws in a row – might be becoming a bit of a concern.
An absorbing encounter ends in a point apiece! Those two early strikes set the tone for this entertaining third draw in a row in the UEFA Nations League for Germany, but Hungary remain a point above them and one behind leaders Italy after the Azzurri drew in England. This section looks wide open.
Germany are unbeaten in their last 12 matches, drawing four times.
Germany have lost only two of their last 16 games against Hungary, drawing six times.
Hansi Flick’s team are without a clean sheet in 12 matches in the competition
Marco Rossi, Hungary coach: “The boys played really well. It wasn’t easy, it took a lot of energy. My team showed me very important skills. We can be happy with the result but we want to improve in possession. The most important thing is that no-one can be sure of getting points against us and they have to show our team respect. We’ve shown that we can run, fight, give our heart and soul. This is what I like best about the team: that they never give up. They always fight.”
Germany coach Hansi Flick said ,“I predicted at our press conference on Friday that this could be our toughest match out of the four. We played against an extremely organised and defensively strong side. We didn’t succeed in accomplishing our plan; our frequent mistakes made life easy for our opponents.
We lacked conviction, we played without confidence. Too often, we didn’t decide to shoot when we had a clear chance to do so. Our play lacked intensity but, after such a long season, unfortunately it can happen.
We had seven shots on goal and that’s not enough. Compared to the England match we had an extra day to prepare, and we expected more. Tonight, in terms of the result and our play, is a bit of a regression. We’re now focusing on taking three points against Italy in Mönchengladbach.”
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