Germany pegged back after Gnabry strikes again

Germany had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Argentina in their friendly in Dortmund despite Serge Gnabry continuing his rich vein of form.

Gnabry, who bagged four goals in Bayern Munich’s 7-2 thrashing of Tottenham in the Champions League last week, opened the scoring on 15 minutes and then set up Kai Havertz to make it 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park.

However, an Argentina side without the suspended Lionel Messi fought back in the second half to secure a draw thanks to goals from substitutes Lucas Olario and Lucas Ocampos.

Germany should have opened the scoring after 14 minutes after some intricate, one-touch football allowed them to play out of their own half and release Julian Brandt down the right, but the Borussia Dortmund winger’s shot was too close to goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin, who saved with his feet.

However, the home side kept Argentina pegged back and deservedly went in front just two minutes later as Lukas Klostermann pulled the ball back from the byline and Gnabry nudged the ball beyond Marcos Rojo’s lunging tackle before lifting it into the far corner.

That was Gnabry’s 10th goal for his country from just his 11th appearance and the 24-year-old turned provider five minutes later to set up Germany’s second of the night.

Manchester United defender Rojo was caught in possession five yards inside Germany’s half and Klostermann surged forward before feeding Gnabry to square the ball for Havertz, who was left with the simple task of sliding in his first international goal.

The home side were inches away from extending their lead shortly after the half-hour when Marcel Halstenberg curled a free-kick against the underside of the bar from 25 yards out and Niklas Sule was unable to head the rebound on target.

The bar was probably still reverberating by the time Argentina struck the woodwork at the other end, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul unleashing a thunderous drive which came back off the post.

Emre Can came close to extending Germany’s lead early in the second half but Joachim Low’s side were ultimately punished for taking their foot off the gas as Manuel Acuna’s cross was brilliantly headed into the far corner by Alario midway through the second half.

Alario, who had come off the bench just four minutes before scoring, also saw a shot deflected inches wide before Ocampos responded to being booked for bringing down Klostermann by curling home the equaliser five minutes from time with a shot which took a slight deflection off the unfortunate Can.