OneFootball
Emily Wilson·11 October 2024
OneFootball
Emily Wilson·11 October 2024
More UEFA Nations League action continued on Friday with a handful of countries in action across Europe.
Here is what went down.
Scorers: Džeko 70′; Undav
Germany earned their second Nations League win of the season after a 2-1 away victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dealing with many injuries, Julian Nagelsmann was forced to name a new-look line-up, and one man made the most of his opportunity.
Deniz Undav scored a first-half brace in only six minutes and registered his second and third goals for Germany in his fifth appearance.
Florian Wirtz set up the opener, and the Stuttgart man scored a darting strike after crashing the box. He later split two centre-backs and bundled home another, this time from close range.
After the break, he eventually registered a hat-trick, but VAR spoiled the celebrations by ruling the goal offside.
The hosts had only four shots to their name, and none of them were on target by the hour mark despite the talents of Edin Džeko leading the line.
That was until the 38-year-old was left unmarked at the back post and leapt highest to turn things 2-1. The late rally, however, arrived too late for an equaliser.
Scorers: Sallai 32′; Dumfries 83′. Red: Van Dijk 79′
The Netherlands had to dig deep in order to hold Hungary 1-1 after Virgil van Dijk was sent off.
The hosts opened the scoring against the run of play despite only 15% possession of the ball. The Dutch, meanwhile, paid the price for tinkering too much in midfield with 420 after 45 minutes.
A cross from Zslot Nagy curled into the box, and Micky van de Ven was forced to open one Hungarian. That was Roland Sallai, who volleyed home at the back post.
Ronald Koeman would have had words for his Oranje men at the break, and unsurprisingly, the Dutch continued to control the pitch after the break.
Xavi Simons pulled the strings, but two efforts from Tijjani Reijnders fell short of the mark before Van de Ven, Joshua Zirkzee and Cody Gakpo also had attempts denied.
Things then turned worse for the Dutch when their captain was shown two yellow cards in three minutes (the first for arguing with the referee) and sent walking.
The man who took the armband, however, rose to the occasion as Dumfries equalized at the death to deny Hungary a key win.
Scorers: Tómasson 69′, Ward 72′ (OG); Johnson 11, Wilson 28′
Wales got off to a blistering start in Iceland but let their 2-0 lead slip as the hosts rallied for a 2-2 draw.
Tottenham star Brennan Johnson translated his incredible club form to the international stage with the opener after about 10 minutes.
Harry Wilson created the opportunity after receiving a ball over the top, but his left-footed shot didn’t have enough power. Thankfully, Johnson arrived at the back post to bundle the ball home for his seventh goal in seven games.
Wilson later ensured his name was on the scoresheet. The Fulham star again received a long ball over the top from Neco Williams and buried it at the second time of asking.
Iceland, however, must have had a scathing talk at half-time. They showed true intent in their attack after the break, with 20 attempts to eight.
Logi Tómasson ensured things ended dramatically when his trivela from outside the box curled beyond a diving Danny Ward for 2-1.
That goal was a confidence boost for the left back, too, as he forced an own-goal off Ward only three minutes later for the equaliser.
We’ll have more Nations League action for you on Saturday and Sunday!