Hofmann nets again for Germany

Jonas Hofmann scored for his country in the UEFA Nations League tie between Germany and Hungary, but also missed the opportunity to strike the winner as the game finished 1-1.

Jonas Hofmann (Photo: imago /Koch) is becoming something of a regular goalscorer for Germany. After leading Borussia with twelve Bundesliga goals last season, he continued that rich form by scoring a fourth international goal on Saturday, the opener in a 1-1 draw with Hungary. Just days prior to that he had also scored in a 1-1 tie with England. The chance against Hungary came early, as he was played through by Nico Scchlotterbeck with just nine minutes on the clock. Hofmann made no mistake and fired past goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

Yet Hofmann couldn't be totally satisfied come the final whistle as he was unable to take a decent chance to score the winner in the 72nd minute. Instead of shooting himself, the 29-year-old unselfishly tried to find teammate Timo Werner and let the Hungarian defender make up the ground. With that, the match ended with a third consecutive 1-1 draw for Germany. “I take responsibility for the missed chance to go 2-1 up. In the end I simply had to slot it home. I am disappointed with the result, mostly because of that one moment,” said Hofmann, who was taken off with five minutes to go.

Germany will close out the season with a game against European champions Italy at BORUSSIA-PARK on Tuesday evening (20:45 CEST) “If we can get three points in that one then we will still be in with a chance of achieving our goal in the last two games in September - winning the group. I am obviously really looking forward to the game in Mönchengladbach and of course I'm hoping to be able to play from the start again.”

Borges Sanches starts for Luxembourg

Yvandro Borges Sanches and Luxembourg were dealt their first defeat in League C of the Nations League on Saturday. They went down 2-0 away to Turkey with Hakan Çalhanoğlu (37’) and Serdar Dursun (76’) scoring the goals. 18-year-old Borges Sanches played from the off to earn his eleventh cap before coming off after 54 minutes. Luxembourg play the Faroe Islands at the Stade de Luxembourg on Tuesday evening (20:45 CEST) to end the season