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Germany scraped past Ukraine in a narrow win to bag all the three points in their UEFA Nations League encounter. Despite grabbing the win, the visitors put in a lackluster performance. Matthias Ginter scored an easy tap-in as Antonio Rudiger created a goal out of nowhere for his side to open their account on the night.
The hosts were happy to sit back and absorb pressure until they conceded their first of the night. It was after Ginter's goal that Ukraine started forcing their way high up the pitch.
The hosts started the second half hoping to overturn the deficit but fell prey to a howler from George Buschan. The Ukrainian goalkeeper failed to keep hold of Lukas Klostermann's cross as he dropped it for Leon Goretzka to head in.
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All looked done and dusted for the visitors before Roman Yaremchuk beat Niklas Sule with a burst of pace to draw a lunging tackle on him and earned his side a penalty. Ruslan Malinovsky made no mistake from the spot as he beat Manuel Neuer with conviction. The hosts tightened their grip on the game in search of an equalizer, but Germany were lucky enough to hold on for a win.
Here are the five major talking points from the match.
#1 Germany missed a target man
Joachim Low started with Serge Gnabry upfront leaving Timo Werner on the bench. Although Gnabry did a great job with the limited amount of service he had, he is not a natural striker. He lacks the natural instinct of a number 9.The Bayern Munich winger was isolated for most of the game and would have liked another player up front to team up with.
The midfielders and wing backs had no target man for whom they could overload the box with their crosses. There were various occasions where Germany had no player in the box to receive the balls.
#2 Toni Kroos and Joshua Kimmich had the midfield under their control
Toni Kroos is the engine of this Germany side. Everything passes through him. The sniper was not up to his usual best, but was still above the rest.
Kroos provided an option for all the attackers who saw no way through forward. The Real Madrid midfielder was exquisite in tight spaces as he opened up new avenues for his side from the limited space he had. Kroos completed 101 passes with an accuracy of 94%. Additionally, he made 7 recoveries and created 3 chances for his side.
Joshua Kimmich combined perfectly well with Kroos in the center of the park for Germany. He completed 116 passes with an accuracy of 97%. Moreover, he made 6 recoveries and won 2 tackles.
#3 George Buschan's blunder killed the game for the hosts
George Buschan undid his good work on the night with a horrendous error. He dropped an easy cross from Lukas Klostermann for Leon Goretzka to score early on in the second half. The Ukrainian goalkeeper was having a decent game till then as he made a handful of great saves to keep the hosts alive in the game. But all was undone as his error proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end.
Buschan made 10 saves throughout the course of the game. Some of them were really fantastic. Serge Gnabry almost had a goal to his name but Buschan somehow palmed it away to his disbelief.
#4 Germany's five man back-line needs fixing
Although Low's defensive line was solid for the majority of the game, they looked uncomfortable when Ukraine attacked them with more bodies. Niklas Sule gifted a penalty to the hosts as he failed to contain the attack and was beaten for pace by Roman Yaremchuk.
But their critical issue is not defending, it is their ability to attack. With two wing-backs and three center-backs, Germany should be creating a lot more from the flanks, but that was not the case. Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg did not cause any immediate problem for Shevchenko's defenders. They failed to provide an outlet and stretch their play over the wings. They lacked vision and creativity.
One could argue both the goals for Germany came through their defenders. But that is not completely true. The first goal was down to Rudiger's individual brilliance who set it up on a plate for Ginter to finish. Meanwhile, the second was down to an error from Buschan.
#5. Germany lacked flare upfront
With Leroy Sane out injured, Germany were already without their most lethal attacker. And to add to it, starting Serge Gnabry as a striker with Kai Havertz on the bench killed any element of surprise. The Germans were slow and quite predictable when they moved up the pitch.
Only Julian Draxler displayed some shades of skills for the visitors. The others looked lost for ideas and showed no urgency while attacking. This German side lacked pace for the entirety of the game. The players looked untidy as they misplaced many easy balls to lose possession. But they also looked out of energy to recover the lost balls. Low will have to shake up a lot of things up front to make them a feared force once again.
