Austria see off 10-man Germany in Vienna

Marcel Sabitzer and Christoph Baumgartner scored in either half to ensure Austria a 2-0 victory over 10-man Germany in Vienna.

The home team broke the deadlock in the first period thanks to Sabitzer’s strike at the near post before Leroy Sane was sent off after shoving the head of Philipp Mwene.

The second half was largely dominated by Austria with the extra man and they made their opponents pay when Baumgartner sealed victory at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.

Austria enjoyed a bright start to the match and had the first shot on target of the match a quarter of an hour in when Michael Gregoritsch’s effort from inside the area tested Kevin Trapp in the Germany goal.

The home side broke the deadlock just before the half hour mark when Baumgartner picked out Sabitzer, who finished expertly at the near post.

Germany looked to respond instantly and Sane’s drilled strike looked to be going into the bottom corner but Austria keeper Alexander Schlager did well to deny the Bayern Munich winger.

Germany’s Serge Gnabry then let fly from outside the area but his audacious effort flew way over the crossbar.

Austria came close to a second three minutes before the break, Sabitzer looked to repay Baumgartner for his earlier assist and fed him but the latter’s effort missed just wide of the top right corner.

Germany faced an uphill battle to get back into the match when they were reduced to 10 men just four minutes into the second period. After Mwene was fouled by Sane, the German sprung to his feet and pushed the defender in the face and received an inevitable red card.

Austria sought to make their man advantage count and almost had a second but Stefan Posch’s low shot from outside the area went a whisker wide of the post.

The hosts continued to create chances and for a while it seemed only a matter of time before Germany would concede a second after Gregoritsch and Posch both missed half-chances within a minute of each other.

Midway through the second half, Trapp was called upon again to deny Gregoritsch’s goal-bound effort and keep the deficit to just one.

Austria’s second arrived in the 73rd minute. After setting up the first, Baumgartner raced through on goal and dinked the ball cleverly over Trapp to make Austria’s advantage more comfortable.

The closest Germany came to a consolation goal was when Jonathan Tah flicked on for Thomas Muller but the veteran’s header was magnificently saved by Schlager.