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Nathan Ake was carried off injured on a stretcher as the Netherlands and Germany played out an entertaining 2-2 Nations League draw in Amsterdam.
Manchester City defender Ake pulled up off the ball with what looked to be a serious muscular injury shortly after Deniz Undav’s first international goal for Germany cancelled out Tijjani Reijnders’ early opener.
Pep Guardiola’s side face Brentford as the Premier League returns on Saturday, with Ake potentially facing a spell on the sidelines.
Joshua Kimmich put the visitors ahead in first-half added time before Denzel Dumfries levelled a thrilling Group A3 clash at Johan Cruijff Arena.
Germany launched their campaign with Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing of Hungary, while the Dutch ran out in their capital city buoyed by a resounding 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eindhoven.
Ronald Koeman’s men made a rapid start and led inside two minutes.
Ryan Gravenberch’s through-ball exposed a gaping hole in the Germany defence and Reijnders, who was one of five scorers against Bosnia, raced clear to calmly slot between the legs of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
After Kai Havertz ruffled the side-netting at the other end, unmarked Dutch defender Dumfries should have doubled the hosts’ lead when he somehow headed wide from Xavi Simons’ free-kick.
Germany’s backline continued to look fragile.
Liverpool midfielder Gravenberch once again unlocked it, pinging an exquisite 40-yard pass to release Simons, whose low effort at the end of the counter attack was saved by Ter Stegen.
The hosts’ hard work was undone during a major momentum shift in the closing minutes of the half.
Undav levelled in the 38th minute, slamming high into the net on the rebound at the end of move sparked by Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt conceding possession while attempting to play out from the back.
Ake then departed in distress following treatment on the field – to be replaced by Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber – before Julian Nagelsmann’s team edged ahead in the resultant added time.
Robert Andrich’s delightful diagonal pass to the left was helped back across goal by a combination of David Raum and Undav, leaving captain Kimmich with a tap-in.
The Netherlands set aside the series of setbacks to equalise within five minutes of the restart.
Brian Brobbey, who was selected to start in place Joshua Zirkzee, pulled the ball across goal from the left, leaving Dumfries with a simple finish to atone for his earlier glaring miss.
Former Brighton forward Undav wasted a glorious opportunity to grab victory for Germany when he failed to get sufficient height on his attempted lob with just Bart Verbruggen to beat as an end-to-end encounter ended all square.
PA
