Germany kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the Nations League quarter-finals by beating nine-man Serbia 3-1.

Jurgen Klopp's team went into Friday's contest at Stadion Rajko Mitic with only one win under their belt, with that coming in the reverse fixture.

Yet with Greece on the end of a 7-0 hammering by the Netherlands in the other Group A2 fixture, it means Germany have hope of making it to the knockout stage.

They hit the front inside three minutes, and never really looked back. 

Maximilian Mittelstadt delivered an out-swinging corner, and Kai Havertz's header was inadvertently turned home by Srdjan Babic.

Florian Wirtz scrambled home to make it 2-0 11 minutes later, with Germany in complete control for the rest of the first half.

The result was put beyond all doubt in the 50th minute, as Brajan Gruda went on a mazy run before drilling a crisp finish beyond Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

Babic's effort gave Serbia some hope, and after Joshua Kimmich had a goal disallowed and Derry Scherhant hit the woodwork at the other end, Aleksandar Mitrovic squandered a golden chance when he failed to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a close-range header.

But Serbia's hopes of a comeback were extinguished when substitute Vanja Dragojevic received his marching orders for a late lunge on Kimmich 76 minutes in.

And Serbia's misery was compounded in the 89th minute as Andrija Zivkovic saw red for foul and abusive language.

 

 

 

 

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Germany in the fight

While Serbia are now relegated, Germany head into next week's clash with the Netherlands knowing they must win to stand a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.

Klopp's side are now on eight points, level with Greece, but they are behind them on the head-to-head tie-breaker.

However, as Germany drew with the Netherlands, who are on 11 points, back on MD1, it means a win for Klopp's men against the Oranje would see them move above Xavi's team. So it is a true winner-takes-all clash.

A failure to get through this group will represent an underwhelming start for Klopp, but his team were utterly dominant in Belgrade.

Germany bossed possession, with a whopping 79.3%, while having 22 shots and creating chances worth a combined 2.71 expected goals to Serbia's 1.28 xG.

Gruda was one of their standout performers, with his goal the pick of the bunch. He completed 9/14 dribbles and won 12/20 duels. 

Wirtz, meanwhile, continued his solid form by having a team-leading five shots, getting three of them on target.

Now, Klopp's full focus will be on Germany doing their bit by beating the Netherlands.