Germany 1-0 Netherlands: Leweling marks senior debut with winning goal

Jamie Leweling netted the winner on his senior international debut as Germany beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Monday’s Nations League clash at the Allianz Arena.

The Stuttgart forward, in for the injured Deniz Undav, had a goal within two minutes of his first cap ruled out after a VAR check showed Serge Gnabry was offside in the build-up.

However, there was no denying Leweling in the 64th minute as the 23-year-old thumped a loose ball inside the box into the top corner past Bart Verbruggen to give the hosts a deserved lead in Munich.

Verbruggen had undoubtedly been the busier of the two goalkeepers up until that point, making four saves prior to the breakthrough from Leweling, who also had a goal-bound shot blocked near the line by Stefan de Vrij.

The Netherlands twice went close to equalising in the final 15 minutes, but Oliver Baumann got a faint touch to a long-range Xavi Simons drive to help it onto the crossbar and then superbly helped Donyell Malen’s powerful effort wide.

The win moves Germany to 10 points from their first four Group A3 matches, five points clear of the Netherlands and Hungary – 2-0 winners away at Bosnia and Herzegovina – with two games remaining.

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— German Football (@DFB_Team_EN) October 14, 2024

Data Debrief: Debutants decide the game

Leweling was a threat throughout on his debut as he scored one, had another disallowed and had an effort blocked off the line, generating an expected goals (xG) value of 0.35 – the highest of any player on the field.

Just as key to the victory was fellow Germany debutant Baumann, who produced two big saves in the second half.

Aged 34 years and 131 days, he became the second-oldest Germany debutant (after Matthias Mauritz) in the post-war era and the oldest goalkeeper to make his debut in the country’s history.