Baysse keeps France on course

Just like against Serbia in their opening fixture of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, France failed to finish their second match with eleven players but still managed to earn a draw against Germany.

Baysse leveller
After falling behind to Mesut Özil's fifth-minute goal, defeat looked likely for France when Damien Plessis was sent off mid-way through the second half. But Guy Ferrier's side regrouped and deservedly drew level through Paul Baysse with 18 minutes to play. France and Germany remain locked at the top of Group B on four points and are both expected to advance with games against Russia – who have already been eliminated – and Serbia respectively to come on Saturday.

Sparkling start
In front of 4,500 fans at the Fill Metallbau Stadium, Steve Pinau missed France's first chance less than two minutes into the match, when he shot low past the right post. Seconds later Germany's Sebastian Tyrala, who was back from suspension, saw his shot saved by goalkeeper Yohann Carrasso. Germany coach Frank Engel had decided to play Tyrala from the start instead of Nils Petersen, who had scored against Russia, and his inclusion served as a wake-up call for his side.

Early strike
Germany had favoured the long-ball route in their opening-day victory against Russia and they employed the same tactic to good effect here. After only five minutes Özil sprinted on to Christian Sauter's through-ball and snapped his shot beyond Carrasso. France were struggling to keep pace with Germany and it was a surprise they did not fall further behind. Özil, Tyrala and Sauter all appeared unmarked in front of Carrasso but were unable to score.

German dominance
Germany dominated the opening half but pulled back to defend their lead after the restart, giving France more space to exploit. Even so France's chances of getting back into the match seemed slight when Plessis was sent off on 63 minutes for a second bookable offence on Daniel Schwaab, who was carried off on a stretcher. Against Serbia, France had also gone a man down, but recovered from a two-goal deficit to win 5-2 and they battled back again here, drawing level from a corner 20 minutes from time. Captain Malaury Martin crossed for Baysse who volleyed into the roof of the net. With ten men France were playing their best football and created several scoring chances. Germany's best chance of the second half fell to Manuel Konrad but his long-range shot from 20 metres was saved by Carrasso as the points were shared.