体坛英语新闻：Germany held 2-2 by Netherlands in UEFA Nations League

BERLIN, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Germany squandered a two-goal lead after sharing the spoils with the Netherlands in the closing period at the UEFA Nations League's Group 1 on Monday.

The Netherlands scored two late goals through substitute Quincy Promes and Virgil van Dijk in the last five minutes to flabbergast hosts Germany.

Germany grabbed the reins form the kick off and let the ball do the work on home soil against the uninspired visitors.

Hence, it took only nine minutes before Joachim Loew's men opened the scoring through Timo Werner, who unleashed a low shot from the edge of the box to beat goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen into the bottom right.

The hosts gained momentum and continued on the front foot, meanwhile the "Elftal" lacked in penetration to overcome Germany's well-positioned defense.

Germany's efforts paid off with 19 minutes played as Leroy Sane had all time and space to slot home between four defenders to make it 2-0.

The "Nationalmannschaft" should have added another goal to their lead before the break but Jasper Cillessen defused Serge Gnabry's shot on target at the half hour mark.

After the restart, Germany started where they left off and controlled the proceedings on the pitch whereas the Netherlands lacked in ideas to pose threat in front of the hosts' goal.

Timo Werner had a promising chance to extend the lead but his shot on target missed the far post in the 62nd minute.

As the match progressed, the Netherlands reduced the arrears out of the blue as Germany failed to clear the ball from the penalty area, allowing substitute Quincy Promes to curl the ball into the top right corner with five minutes remaining.

Germany had the golden chance to restore their two goal lead seconds later but Thilo Kehrer's shot went just wide.

However, the visitors gained the upper hand and shocked Germany in the dying seconds of the game when Virgil van Dijk headed home a cross at the far post to level the scores.

With the result, the Netherlands move atop the standings in Group 1 of the UEFA Nations League to book their berth for the finals next summer. Meanwhile, Germany stay on the third place.

"I am disappointed at the result. We staged a faultless first half but we should have scored more goals in the second half. The Netherlands punished our wastefulness," Germany head coach Joachim Loew said.