Bundesliga revelation Jovic stuns new-look Germany but Goretzka saves misfiring Low’s men
The Eintracht Frankfrut striker bagged his first senior goal for Serbia as the visitors upset Die Mannschaft in Wolfsburg
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BUNDESLIGA sensation Luka Jovic shined for Serbia, but Leon Goretzka salvaged a 1-1 draw in Wolfsburg on a disappointing evening for Die Mannschaft.
The Eintracht Frankfurt striker scored his first international goal to upset Joachim Low's men, who were hoping to turn the page and put the nightmares of 2018 behind them.
Germany shockingly crashed out of the World Cup in Russia after group stages, before being relegated from the Uefa Nations League top tier to end their worst international campaign in generations.
And Low wanted to make sure his players are truly awaken from last year's nightmare.
Just at the dawn of this season, he dropped a bombshell announcing that Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels were axed from the squad.
But Europe's hot property Jovic upset his Bundesliga pals, scoring with his first touch of the game.
German players missed a handful of good chances and were accompanied by loud boos while coming off the pitch for a break.
But Leon Goretzka eventually found an equaliser and sealed the result in the second half.
However, Low surely hoped to kick off the new season on a more positive note, with the Euro 2020 qualifiers on the horizon.
Jovic stung Die Mannschaft just 10 minutes into the game, beating Manuel Neuer with a fortuitous header in Serbia's first attack.
The ball bounced off the back of Nikola Maksimovic from a corner and the Eintracht revelation easily tucked it away from close range.
Jovic almost doubled the lead before the half hour mark, but Lukas Klostermann kept poise in his senior debut and saved the struggling Germans with some fine, last-ditch tackle.
Fans in Wolfsburg shrieked in disbelief when Serbia goalkeeper Marko Dimitrovic fabulously stopped Timo Werner's strike after the ball found the RB Leipzig forward completely unmarked two-yards out.
But Adem Ljajic's blunder then eclipsed his miss as he spectacularly fluffed a better-than-a-penalty chance, hitting the ball over the bar off Serbia's counter-attack.
Despite the absence of Nemanja Matic, Serbia were a well-organised side, ensuring that even if Germany broke through their cautious back line, their attacks came to nothing.
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That included Maksimovic's mind-blowing clearance off the line before unmarked Leroy Sane's header was to weak to beat Dimitrovic.
But second-half sub Goretzka finally found a way to beat the outstanding Serbian keeper and smashed the ball past him from the edge the box, after being skillfully picked up by Marco Reus.
Both sides surprisingly got hot-headed just before the end of the match, with a few minor melees breaking out between the players, resulting in a red card for Milan Pavkov for a horrific stamp on Sane.
