Late Kimmich penalty salvages Germany draw with Ukraine

BREMEN, Germany: An injury time penalty from Germany captain Joshua Kimmich salvaged a 3-3 draw with Ukraine in a friendly in Bremen on Monday. Germany trailed 3-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining but a goal from Kai Havertz gave the home side hope, before the Chelsea forward won a penalty in injury time, bringing Kimmich to the spot. Despite the comeback, an impressive Ukraine led for much of the match and will take significant momentum into this month's crucial Euro 2024 qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta.

Asked if his side had given away victory, Ukraine manager Serhiy Rebrov, in his first match in charge, said "are you asking me whether it's a success if we draw 3-3 with Germany?" "I think we created enough chances and we could have scored even more." The manager thanked Germany for hosting the friendly, telling the post-match press conference "this is an important match for Ukraine". "We are grateful to Germany for supporting us in the war". Germany coach Hansi Flick lamented the "individual mistakes" and said his side needed to "keep working and showing that we've improved the things we're training".

"We know it's a long process, but it's the process that's important" Flick told Germany's ZDF network. "We started well," Kimmich said after the game, "but then conceded two stupid goals. That's exactly what we need to stop".

Flick stayed true to his pre-match promise to bring the "attacking power" ahead of the game, which was Germany's 1000th top level match. The manager selected a back three, allowing the offence-minded David Raum and Marius Wolf to roam the wings. The script looked to be going according to plan for the hosts early, Antonio Ruediger's pressure forcing a hurried Mykhaylo Mudryk to pass