Friday, March 29, 2024

Germany 2-0 Hungary: Muller seals win for Low’s men

SoccerNews in European Championships 4 Jun 2016

139 Views

Germany eased to a routine 2-0 win over Hungary on Saturday in the world champions’ final warm-up friendly before Euro 2016.
An Adam Lang own goal and Thomas Muller’s second-half strike saw the hosts come out on top at Veltins-Arena, although Die Mannschaft struggled at times for fluency in Gelsenkirchen.
Nevertheless, one of the pre-tournament favourites will arrive in France on the back of a victory as they prepare for their first match of Group C against Ukraine in Lille next Sunday.
Joachim Low made five changes from the team that lost 3-1 to Slovakia in heavy rain in Augsburg last weekend, reverting to four at the back as Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos, Benedikt Howedes and Muller all came into the starting XI.
For Hungary, Richard Guzmics and Gergo Lovrencsics replaced Roland Juhasz and Adam Gyurcso respectively following a 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast in Budapest last month.

Germany had the ball in the back of the net as early as the second minute, Julian Draxler seeing his effort at the back post incorrectly ruled out for offside.
Antonio Rudiger should have scored nine minutes later, heading a corner well wide from close range despite being unmarked in the centre of the penalty area.
Those moments were the pick of an early flurry of chances but they were followed by a lull unbroken until Low’s men did finally take the lead six minutes before half-time.
Draxler slipped a throughball to Jonas Hector and the overlapping left-back, advancing into the penalty area, delivered a pass to the near post, where the ball was turned home by the leg of centre-back Lang, under pressure from a stretching Mario Gotze.
Germany continued to dominate possession in the second half, probing patiently before doubling their advantage in the 63rd minute.
Jerome Boateng’s cross found the head of substitute Mario Gomez, who drew a save at full stretch from Gabor Kiraly, only for Muller to arrive and slam home the rebound.

Hungary wasted their best chance to pull one back barely a minute after the restart, Tamas Priskin sending an attempted lob over Neuer’s goal shortly after his introduction from the bench.
A succession of substitutions contributed to a further slackening of the already tame pace late in the second half, although local fans were at least afforded a glimpse of young star Leroy Sane in a Germany shirt at the home of his club side Schalke, while Bastian Schweinsteiger enjoyed a run out as he continues his recovery from the knee ligament injury that saw him miss much of 2016 for Manchester United.
Lukas Podolski, Andre Schurrle and Emre Can, the latter back from an ankle problem, were also given minutes by Low as the heavyweight side fine-tuned their preparations to depose holders Spain in France.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SoccerNews

Soccernews.com is news blog for soccer with comprehensive coverage of all the major leagues in Europe, as well as MLS in the United States. In addition we offer breaking news for transfers and transfer rumors, ticket sales, betting tips and offers, match previews, and in-depth editorials.

You can follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/soccernews.com or Twitter: @soccernewsfeed.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top