Late double returns Germany U21 to winning ways

With ex-Nürnberg striker Stefanos Tzimas scoring a late winner for Greece in Latvia, Germany U21 knew they had to win this one to keep pressure on the group leaders. However, they had yet another slow start in Belfast.

Northern Ireland took a deserved lead inside the first five minutes as Ruairi McConville headed home Jamie Donley’s corner-kick. The visitors struggled to keep possession early on, starting from Dennis Seimen as the goalkeeper showed no improvements from his weak performance against Greece.

Antonio Di Salvo’s side started to assert their dominance after the tenth minute. They had a good chance to level the scoring when Muhammed Damar hit the side-netting with a wide free-kick in the 18th minute. The captain Tom Bischof was the first to test Stephen McMullan with a long-range effort.

Germany played the majority of the remaining half in Northern Ireland’s half, but they were unable to create anything of note. Instead, the hosts had clear-cut chances on the break. Seimen denied Makenzie Kirk before Noël Aséko Nkili made a goalline clearance from Shea Kearney’s lob.

The second-half started in an end-to-end manner, which suited the playing style of Assan Ouédraogo and Said El Mala. At the other end, Paderborn’s starting goalkeeper had to make another save from Kirk.

In the 55th minute, Nelson Weiper puts the ball in the net with his first chance of the game. However, the goal was chalked off as he was in an offside position while receiving the ball from the debutant Tim Drexler.

Di Salvo made triple changes for the last half hour. Highly-rated Bundesliga attackers Mert Kömür and Ilyas Ansah were introduced alongside Leandro Morgalla. Ten minutes later, another Bundesliga striker entered the fray in the form of Wolfsburg’s Dženan Pejčinović.

It was the combination of midfielders that led to Germany’s equalizing goal, however. RB Leipzig’s Ouédraogo headed home Bischof’s excellent delivery with enough time left to push for the winning goal.

Less than five minutes later, the strikers made an impact for Germany’s second goal. Ansah’s superb play resulted in a penalty-kick for a handball offense, and Pejčinović made no mistake from 12 yards. The hosts scrambled for a late equalizer with plenty of set-piece opportunities, but Germany held their own to return to winning ways.

Germany U21 will play their final two games of 2025 next month against Malta and Georgia. The win saw them climb to second place in the group behind Greece. Including a game away at the group leaders in March 2026, there is still plenty of room to leap into an automatic qualification spot.